The Puppet of Entropy
by Baran3
Summary: crossover with final fantasy unlimited. Cosmic forces are not satisfied with the situation in Spira. They decide to send an agent alongside with Tidus and enslave a normal young girl from earth to do so.
1. prelude

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura.

Notes: this is a story about a nice 'normal' girl trapped into the world of Spira. Yep, once again, another character falling into Spira. Due to the number of stories about this, I try to bring something new.

A nice idea then hit me when I was reading what has been already written about this subject. An idea of crossover never used before. This kind of crossover is my specialty.

So here we go with this crossover between Final Fantasy X and a dash of Final Fantasy Unlimited.

**Prelude**

"**I AM NOT SATISFIED!**"

In a place beyond the feeble human perception, a strange assembly occurred. They were not entities of flesh and bones or even energy and matter. If a human perception could be made to perceive them without becoming instantly insane he would have recognized the metaphysical manifestations of many cosmic principles.

They do not have an origin because their origin began the same time as Time itself. Our feeble knowledge could only outline their functions and brush their ways of thinking. But in the here and now, this assembly seemed a little…peeved.

Roughly in the middle of the reunion, an image formed. It was a blue and white planet with clouds, oceans and lands. The image seemed to jump and acquire a quadri-dimensionality as the scale changed. Various landscapes appeared and brought their sounds and scents to the assembly. Finally, the image focused on a gigantic form in an ocean.

"**The cycle created in the world of Spira is harming the balance of this universe.**"

"_Personally, I find the entity 'Sin' rather…ugly._"

"We're not here to discuss mortal values."

"Something must be done to rectify the unbalance."

The image changed to show a blond young man dressed in yellow and playing a sport called 'Bltizball' in a giant sphere of water.

"What about him? He is fated to help to rectify the problem."

"The help come from tainted sources. The current 'Sin' and an Unsent are responsible of his intervention."

"**A direct intervention will be a waste of energy. One of our agents must be sent.**"

"An agent? Most are too powerful or non-compatible to the dynamics of this universe."

"_Perhaps an Avatar?_"

"**No thank you. One time is enough.**"

The view changed again to another blue and white planet.

"_You're not serious!_"

"I agree, this particular planet is nothing more than a source of problems in too many dimensions."

"You can't be thinking of empowering one of those mortals!"

"**Empowering? No. Enslaving, yes.**"

"They are notorious for their amazing willpower and capacity to adapt."

"**Well, I just have to selection an average mortal among them.**"

The image focused on the interior of a classical Japanese classroom and especially on a young girl, a teenager of sixteen years old with straight long black hair and deep green almond-shaped eyes. She was clad in a standard blue and white school sailor-uniform and was taking notes.

"**This one. She is nothing special on any regard and she will be involved in a future incident with enough leeway for us to intervene.**"

"True. But the potential of her race is present. No one can do anything about it."

"_She's too feeble. She will be killed in the very beginning._"

"**I count on the moral values of the Unsent and the Chosen Champion to make her pass this first hurdle.**"

"And after that?"

"**I will use this.**"

In the place of the image, a pair of black manacles without a chain and a crimson collar appeared. Each was bearing a polychromatic gem.

"…Isn't that a little extreme?"

"To give something like that to a mortal…"

"**Give? No. She will be chained to them.**"

"There is still a risk that she will be able to master them."

"**Minimal and even if she managed this feat I will win in the end.**"

"_You always win in the end._"

"**True.**"

Ignorant of her fate, the young girl continue the normal routine of her life.

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Notes: Yes, those four are the manifestations of four great cosmic principles. Don't worry, their identities will be developed during the story.

Many time, the Fayth are the powers that bring normal players in the world of Spira. Well, not this time.

Read and review please.


	2. firetripper?

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura.

Notes: It is strange that many fan fictions about Final Fantasy X are humoristic. Well, it's true that one can mock or parody much of the game and frankly I found Tidus and Wakka a little ridiculous but I wonder why so many write about it.

Final Fantasy Unlimited is a nice anime. I just love the primary weapon of the main character (hint hint) and what is used by his enemy is not bad also.

**Chap 1: Fire-tripper?**

It was a normal and bright journey of late spring for Sakura. The Japanese teenager was coming from school after a day of study. Nothing in particular has happened after all she was a normal girl in a normal modern world. Her blue and white fuku was fluttering in a light wind as she was walking to her home.

She was a sixteen years old only daughter in a standard family. Her father was working in a bank and was the primary bread-winner of the family. Her mother was a traditional housewife staying at home and was responsible of the Wa or harmony of the house. She was studying hard to obtain a good place for the universities and gain a good job when she will be of age.

Her features were the only detail outside the average girl of her land. Her straight long black hair was a shinny mass and her green eyes enhanced her natural beauty. The various Omiai or ritual presentations of potential fiancées have been great for now. She didn't meet someone she did not like but she didn't meet her soul-mate also. It was a romantic thought and something outside the reality but everyone has a secret garden right?

She was passing near one of the numerous giant reservoirs of natural gas in the Japanese landscape of the average city when she heard something ominous said by two bystanders.

"Hey! Do you smell gas?"

"Huh?"

She turned to the suddenly dangerously seeming reservoir. It can not be possible. Something like this happen only to others. It was impossible. She shook her head and continued to walk. Somewhere in the mass of metal, a spark occurred and a gigantic explosion swept everything in vicinity including an average schoolgirl.

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Sheer terror paralyzed the girl as the concussive wall of fire rushed to her. Before she even perceived the shockwave and the heat ready to stripe and burn the flesh off her bones three very distinct objects hit her in both her arms and her throat stopping her scream of fear.

She was catapulted back and away from the explosion by the impact through a sudden darkness that intensify to a complete abyss. In fact, she was catapulted outside her reality in the void between the dimensions of all the Creation.

There was an icy sensation around her throat that was preventing her to scream. She couldn't see anything in the almost tangible darkness. A burning sensation around her wrists jerked her perception to her body. Not only she couldn't articulate any sound but her whole body seemed paralyzed with the exception of her fearful eyes and her rapid respiration.

Unknown to her, forces beyond her current imagination and perception were analyzing her on all levels of existence. After an imperceptible sign of acknowledgement her journey resumed. The darkness embraced her consciousness and she knew no more.

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Notes: Wow! It was one of my shortest chapters in all my stories.

The idea of the explosion of the gas reservoir came from an anime from 'Rumic World' where a similar incident expedited a teenager in the past.

Read and review please.


	3. Zanarkand?

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura Hayakawa.

**Chap 2: Zanarkand?**

Sakura regained consciousness slowly. All her body felt like she has done her routine physical education non-stop for at least a week. All her muscles and joints protested as she tried to get up. The teenager slowly explored the place she was.

She was resting on a bench in a small park. Around her buildings of grey matter surrounded her. Some bystanders wandered around the neatly cut passages. Those persons were the first false note: Their clothes were not standard for her culture. The cut, the colours and apparently the materials used were different from even the counter-cultures of her world. The second false note was that they were all gaijin. She didn't see any Asian features around her and curiously, she didn't attract undue attention because of her appearance.

The Japanese schoolgirl felt completely lost. Where was she? What happened to…? She suddenly remembered the massive explosion of the gas reservoir and staggered back on the bench. Did she dream the incident and the resulting darkness? She pinched herself and the small pain proved that she was not dreaming. She blinked as she considered her wrists.

Made from a lightweight black metal that seemed to absorb the light, a pair of chainless manacles was fused around her wrists. Yes, it was a pair of manacles, there was even the eye that should hold the restraining chain. She tried to find the mechanism to unclasp it but the metal seemed to be without any seam. The polychromatic gem on each of them was very curious. She didn't see anything like that before.

She sighed and slumped on the bench. The movement brought her attention to her throat. She traced delicately a collar around her neck. It was not tight but seemed also made of one piece, without any seam, with apparently an oval gem like those on the manacles. Her reflection in the water of a nearby fountain revealed its crimson colour. Those three pieces of jewellery were impossible to take off for now.

She sighed again. First thing to do was to find the proper authority in this city and asked to be returned to her family. She got up and began her search of the city. She rapidly saw that she was nowhere anything she knew. It was a technological city near the ocean but not of the East or the West. In fact she was seeing unknown technology…No, make that impossible technology.

Above her, in a gigantic stadium, a giant sphere of water was defying gravity. Inside of it, people clad in loud colour were playing a game with a blue and white ball like a futurist version of water-polo. According to the animated comments around her it was a match between the Zanarkand Abes and the Duggles. The main player of the local team was known as Tidus, the son of the best 'blitzball' player of all time: Jecht whose figure was displayed on giant billboards in the city.

This game was rather violent and very physical when she saw Tidus knocked an opponent out of the water. She frowned as she remarked that none of the players need to take their breath. Perhaps the water was not really water or the players have a trick to breathe underwater.

Speaking of the water, she frowned again as she advised a puddle near her foot, the water lifted out of it and headed toward the ocean around the city. She followed the water with her gaze and her eyes widened when she spotted what appeared to be a massive tidal wave heading toward the city.

"A TSUNAMI!"

It was worse than a tsunami because suddenly, several energy bullets fired out of the mysterious object, and smashed into the city, destroying the stadium in the process. Sakura screamed as she took cover. The blitz pool collapsed and a rush of water drenched the teenager. After a minute, the explosions died down and the terrified schoolgirl risked an eye out from her hiding place and gasped as she noticed just how extensive the damage was.

The whole city, for the most part, has been damaged in some way, shape, or form. Buildings lay crumbled around and the stadium was completely ruined. She advised Tidus as he stood up from the ruins of the stadium. He was the only person around her who was not wounded or screaming in terror and running everywhere but in a secure place. Her very instinct of preservation pushed her to follow him.

They ran down the path away from the stadium, Sakura following Tidus. The blitzball player then noticed a powerfully built man clad in a red coat with sunglasses and a sword in his back. He seemed completely immune to the pandemonium around him and Tidus ran over to him. Sakura felt a little better. She could probably find a much needed help with those two in this strange and dangerous place.

"Auron! What are you doing here?" The yellow clad youngster gazed intently to the older man.

"I was waiting for you." The voice was devoid of any fear and almost of any emotion.

"What are you talking about?"

Auron turned abruptly to look at the approaching Sakura. The Japanese girl saw then that the sunglasses were disguising a closed and probably ruined eye with a nice vertical scar. The warrior frowned at the seemingly confused and strange girl before spinning on his heels and walking away. Tidus took off after Auron and didn't remark the presence of the young girl. Appealed at their seeming obliviousness to the danger around them but having little choice in the matter, Sakura sprinted off after the duo.

Running down the streets, she saw with a dismayed heart that it was no different that the stadium. The streets were cracked and broken, and panic reigned as people rushed in terror in one direction or another. Suddenly time just stopped. People were frozen in mid-stride, mid-fall, anything and everything they were doing was just frozen. Tidus and Sakura just looked around, stunned and confused at what happened. Tidus took a double-take as he remarked for the first time the Asian girl clad in a blue pleated skirt with a sleeveless white shirt.

"It begins."

The two teenagers whirled around to a little boy clothed in purple. The heartbeat of Sakura climbed up as she saw that he was not totally material and looked like a ghost.

"What?" Tidus was quite lost at where this conversation was going.

"Who…Who are you?" Sakura was shaking in fear but knowledge was a proper weapon against the unknown.

"Don't cry and take heart." Time suddenly went back to normal, the boy vanishing without a trace.

"What the...Hey! Wait!" Tidus continued to run down the street followed by Sakura. They suddenly saw Auron again as they reached the end.

"Hey, not this way!" Sakura was of the same advice as the blitzball player. They were too near the ocean and the formidable creature was still looming over the horizon.

Auron gazed up at the ball of water hovering over the city. "Look!" When Tidus stared at it, he continued to speak. "We called it 'Sin'."

"Sin?"

"Who or what is Sin?"

Auron turned to the young girl. "You shouldn't be here."

The finality of this statement iced the blood of the Japanese. "Please…Tell me where to go…I…I don't know what to do…"

Before Sakura could say anything else about it, a large blue spear-like monster covered in tentacles smashed into a nearby building and numerous organic pods rocketed off it. Each of the odd capsules morphed into a large creature that looked like vaguely avian and insectoïd. They surrounded the group in a semicircle emitting a chilly chatter.

Tidus tried to fight them off with his hands but lost his balance and fell flat on his rear in the process. The terrified and weapon less teenager fell back to the rear letting the two men facing the monsters.

"Take it." Auron suddenly handed Tidus a sword with a long and red blade as he got up. Tidus held it high, before apparently noticing how heavy it was and dropped it straight down. "A gift from Jecht."

"My old man?" Tidus charged forward then, swinging the blade, which caused the monsters to back off a few feet.

"I hope you know how to use it."

"You have nothing for the pretty girl? She's too lovely to finish as a sandwich."

"No."

Sakura didn't have any choice but to pray that the two men were good enough to protect her. She distantly thought that it was strange that they didn't use firearms against those monsters. Auron drew his sword, a no-dachi, alongside Tidus, who was still adjusting to his own blade.

Auron made the first move by charging at the first creature and cleaving it square in two. Tidus then darted in and cut the next one in half diagonally. The third was cleaved in four parts by a combined attack of the two fighters.

It was then that something happened to Sakura. The slain creatures burst into clouds of opalescent lights. The fireflies-like particles then were draw to the young girl and were absorbed by the polychromatic gems on her black manacles and crimson collar. The phenomena was alarming but not damaging.

"These ones don't matter! We cut through!" Auron sliced another monster down, as more moved to take their place.

Tidus and Auron proceeded to cut a path among the dangerous creatures. Sakura was numbed mentally and could only follow the battle and pray that they will reach safety soon.

"Don't bother going after all of them. Cut the ones that matter, and run!"

With the guidance and amazing demonstration of swordsmanship of the red-clad warrior, the little group ran along the ravaged streets. Suddenly, a loud noise sounded over the chaos of the fight. Auron paused for a second, before running in the direction of the noise. Turning a corner, the group noticed the huge tentacle sprouting out of the centre of the road. It was also surrounded by 3 more monsters. Tidus just stared at the large creature, as Auron got into a fighting stance once more.

"Get outta my town!"

Auron shot Tidus a sidelong glance. "Some can't wait to die."

"Stand back. I'll handle this." The warrior thrust his left hand forward, pulling his sword back as he did so. He jumped high into the air and spin his sword around, before falling back down and planting it into the ground releasing a wave of fiery energy. Explosions erupted over each of the creatures and the tentacle killing the lesser monsters instantly. The monster counter-attacked and unleashed a wave of gravity energy. The local gravity suddenly decupled around the group and Sakura screamed as her internals organs were crushed by the intense field.

Tidus was pretty ticked now by the unfair attack on the pretty girl and he clenched his fists before charging the monster doing a series of acrobatic back flips and twists before slamming the sword down on the creature finally killing it.

Sakura cried as she attempted to get up. The energy attack of the monster has been fairly painful. As Tidus helped her on her feet, the two men remarked the cloud of pyreflies being absorbed by the three jewels on her.

"Wow! What is that?"

The phenomena was worrying Auron. Pyreflies normally regained the Farplane. Nothing should be able to contain them. "Who are you?"

Trembling, the Japanese turned to the red warrior. "I…I am Sakura… Sakura Hayakawa." Her face paled when she remarked a group of creatures falling from the nearby buildings on the road. "LOOK OUT!"

Tidus and Auron retook stances in front of the dozen of monsters. Sakura withdrew, shaking in fear. They were surrounded. The road in their back was too damaged to enable a retreat. They were going to die. It was then that a sharp pain clacked inside her body alongside the major nerve trees.

With jerking movements, the young girl walked in front of the fighters. She was terrified as her body refused to obey her. It was as if she was a puppet. Only her eyes and voice responded to her will.

"What's going on?!…I…I can't control myself!"

She remarked the glowing jewel on her left manacle. "It's shinning?" She then loose her voice as her left arm raised to her heart.

"SOULS! BE MY STRENGTH!"

A dark blue light exploded around the manacle which suddenly fragmented into thousands of pixel-like blocks. The blocks reassembled themselves into a dark grey sword. It was a strange blade with a round hilt around the polychromatic, and now beating like a heart, gem. The edge was almost blunted and two chains of black metal secured it around the left wrist of the Japanese schoolgirl.

"Demon Sword! Ready!" Sakura couldn't control her voice. It was not her that was talking. There was a deepness in the voice that she was not normally capable of. She then pointed her right hand to the monsters. "I have chosen the element to deal with the likes of you!" She cupped her right hand and a globe of blue light appeared. "Frigid light that freezes everything!" Sakura inserted the globe into the polychromatic gem and the blade acquired a light blue sheen. "Be still for all eternity. ICE BLADE!"

The young girl rushed with unparallel speed among the creatures, slashing each one of them in turn and reappeared in their back. She turned to see all the monsters transformed into ice statues which shattered a few seconds later. She regained then the control of her body and the sword clattered on the ground.

"Wha…wha…WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!"

She tried to loosen the chains around her wrist but they were too tight. She couldn't let go of the dark grey sword. Once again, Auron and Tidus witnessed the clouds of pyreflies being absorbed into the three polychromatic jewels.

Tidus caught the picture of his dad smiling on a nearby billboard. "You had better not be laughing at me, dad." He then turned to the red warrior. "Auron, let's get out of here!"

"We're expected." Auron seemed calmed and unconcerned by what happened before. Only a raised eyebrow betrayed him as he looked to the young girl. "Take your sword."

"WHAT? You can be serious! Did you see what happened to me?"

"You need a weapon."

"Well…yes…but…"

"The sword protects you."

"…but…"

"Do you want to die?"

Sakura was shocked by the crude and direct statement of the swordsman. She sighed and gathered the sword. It was surprisingly light in her hand. The blade was almost one meter and should be heavy especially for a teenager like her. Another thing funny was that she was right-handed and she felt no awkwardness to hold the weapon in her left hand.

Once again, the group ran along the road. By now, Sakura was seriously considering abandoning the two men but then she remembered that they might be her only chance to reach safety unharmed. Then, another rain of creatures fell from the sky, and a huge swarm of the same monsters surrounded them. The yellow blitzball player and the red swordsman hacked at their attackers for a while helped by a reluctant blue Schoolgirl but more kept coming and Auron smirked to the situation "Humph, this could be bad."

"Oh really, you think?" Tidus was very unhappy with the situation.

The swordsman quickly surveyed the situation and noticed a fuel tank hanging haphazardly off the side of the bridge. "That! Knock it down!"

As Tidus obeyed his instructions, Sakura was alarmed. "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind? This tank might explode!"

"Exactly."

As the young girl feared, the tank exploded on contact with some fire. All the creatures died in the explosion but then the bridge started to collapse. Auron caught and pushed the two teenagers on the only part still intact. "Go!"

With horror, Sakura lose once again the control of her body as she ran alongside Tidus, matching his speed. She then understood why. The sword or something else was stealing her body to enable her to follow the blond. If she was still limited to her basic physical skills, she would have die earlier.

The two teenagers threw themselves at the ledge just as the last remnants of the bridge collapsed from beneath them and found themselves hanging above the abyss by hands or by a conveniently placed blade.

Auron slowly stepped to the ledge and stared down at them while the giant sphere of water that was Sin hovered directly overhead.

"Auron! Auron, what are you doing?" Tidus was worried about the situation and looked anxiously to the swordsman.

Sin's form changed to a giant energy wormhole that was swallowing everything around it. The two teenagers continued to struggle as the swordsman stared up at the living vortex and addressed an invisible interlocutor. "There is an uninvited guest."

"WHAT? I'm here against my will!" The fear was making Sakura loosing her normal reserve and politeness. Beside to whom was he talking?

"Is this all right?"

Auron lend a hand to Tidus in getting up from the ledge. "This isn't anybody else's. This is YOUR story." He turned to Sakura. "And perhaps yours as well."

In a burst of bright light, they became consumed by Sin.

As if in a state of hallucination, Tidus floated above the city, eventually finding an image of him. '_I remember thinking about various things, like what's happening and where I was. Then, all of a sudden, I fell asleep..._'

As for Sakura, she was floating in a dark abyss and she was sensing enormous presences around her.

"**Good, good. I choose well.**"

"_Yes, she's not bad for a mortal._"

"The results are better than what I have expected. Even the Unsent did not object or take action against her."

"However, I thought that you didn't want the first Seal to be broken so early."

"**It was her terror. 'He' appreciates things like that.**"

"And now, it's time for the second act."

"**Good bye, slave.**"

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Notes: AAARRRGHHH!! I loose half my work due to a stupid error of mine. The last half of the chapter does not satisfy me but I was unable to rewrite exactly what I lost.

Yes, the Demon Sword is almost the same as the sword of White Cloud in Final Fantasy Unlimited. The Ice Blade is the first type of overdrive of Sakura. She can do elemental-type melee attacks with her sword.

As you can imagine, Sakura has ZERO skill in the blade. Everything depends on the presence controlling her body. She will be 'thrilled' by that. Especially when she will be forced to do something that she doesn't want to do.

Read and review please.


	4. you called this a fish?

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura Hayakawa.

**Chap 3: You call this a fish!?**

Tidus awaked, feeling like an entire blitzball team has used his head as the ball for an entire season. He found himself in a strange place: He was on a rock near an ocean and what looked like a temple in ruin.

"Is there anybody there? Auron!"

"Tidus? Here! I'm here! Tidus!"

The feminine voice came from the temple in ruins. Tidus could now discern a frail silhouette clad in blue and white and waving to him from the rest of the stairs of the structure. He felt relief to see that the mysterious chick he met during the catastrophe in Zanarkand was still alive. He promptly began to follow a stone bridge in her direction.

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Sakura sighed in relief as she saw the blond blitzball player taking a path to her position. She has felt terror when she found herself alone in front of the ruined temple. After what she has lived so far she needed a friendly presence. Hell, any type of human presence. Even a domesticated animal will be a gift from Heaven.

She considered the black manacles on her wrists, especially the left one. She remembered the feeling of helplessness when her body took action by itself and the words she pronounced at that time. Now she knew that it was a weapon in disguise, a weapon she can wield. This thought was baffling. She has no skill in the blade. The small amount of training she received in the martial arts of her land was certainly not up to the point to fight effectively to protect her own life.

And what about the other manacle and the crimson collar she wore. Were they also weapons in disguise or something more sinister? She trembled slightly as she dimly remembered the voices in the darkness. Was it a nightmare or something real? She didn't know what was the best option in her situation.

She smiled as she surveyed the progress of Tidus. The young man was very athletic and was jumping between the crumbled sections of the stone bridge. She witnessed him as he found something among the ruins, some sort of treasure. If it wasn't reality, she could imagine that they were inside one of those role-playing video games and Tidus was recuperating some silly items like potions that replenish the health.

She screamed in dismay as the floor underneath Tidus collapsed and the young man found himself in the water. She sighed in relief when he surfaced and waved at her. She forgot that he was a player in that weird game underwater. Of course, he was a very accomplished swimmer.

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Unfortunately, the water was far from occupied by normal fishes. A group of piranha-like monsters attacked Tidus viciously. He brought out his red sword and began to swing in the water. In three rapid strikes, he exterminated the 'fishy threat' and waved grinning to Sakura.

"LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!"

It was a much bigger monster that emerged behind Tidus from the shadows. It looked like a cross between a prehistoric shark and an armoured squid and each of its many tentacles had a red light pulsing from the ends.

After a few hits, Tidus understood that he couldn't possibly win and began to swim at maximum speed to escape the monstrosity. On the bank, Sakura was wriggling her hands in despair. She could swim but not like the blond boy. At least not enough to do a difference in the battle and she didn't have any ranged weapon. Worse, she still didn't know how to make her dark-grey sword appeared.

Tidus managed to escape from the giant creature by luckily squeezing through a crack in the wall of the ruin. Sakura promptly pull him out of the water as the large mass of the monster crumbled the underwater wall trapping them in this section of the temple.

"Phew…This fish looked hungry."

"You call this…thing a FISH!?"

Tidus smirked and chuckled before the incredulous face of the young girl. Internally he was feeling more and more desperate. '_The situation was quickly getting worse. I was out of dreams and hopes_.'

Sakura was worried. Under the smirk she could see the exhaustion and the cold air was not making anything better especially with the damp clothes of Tidus. They needed a shelter, food, water and dry clothes or at least a fire to dry them. She dragged the young man on his feet and they began the exploration of the ruined temple.

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They eventually found themselves in the central court area of the ruin, both cold and starving. The ruined condition of the building was not lifting the spirit of the Japanese schoolgirl. Everything seemed too damp or too completely smashed to serve for anything. She then remarked the first sign of human presence.

"Look Tidus! The remains of a campfire!"

"Hey! Lucky! Now we just need something to burn."

"And a lighter or matches or two dried sticks to friction."

"Huh?"

She turned her head to him, incredulous. "How do you think we can light the fire if we find any combustible?"

"Oh yeah! Of course! I know that."

They seemed to be alone so the two teenagers took the risk to separate and explore the adjacent chambers. Sakura felt lucky to find a piece of stainless-steel and a few dry pieces of wood. The jackpot was however the discovery of a crumbling chest with an intact treasure. It was a dark-grey adjustable belt made of some sort of cloth-like plastic with pockets built into it. To her stupefaction, the pockets were larger than normal, much larger. In fact she managed to plunge her entire arm into a 5 centimetres pocket. Two of the six pockets were occupied: one held what looked like small vials of a turquoise liquid and the other has several dozens of coins of an unknown metal.

When she returned she smiled as Tidus has managed to find some stone flints and a bouquet of dried flowers. It was enough to start a fire with her piece of steel and her meagre of dry wood. Rapidly, the two teenagers started the fire in the centre of the courtyard.

"I need food."

The stomach of Sakura answered by rumbling and the young girl blushed as she realised that she haven't eaten anything since her forced arrival in this strange world. "Can't do anything about it for now." She sighed. "You know that this fire will not go for long with the wood we have."

Tidus smirked. "Can't do anything about it for now."

Sakura frowned and advised her left manacle. "You know? I think I can do something about it."

Intrigued, the blond blitzball player looked his comrade-in-pain as she examined her black bracelet and mumbled something about words of power or stupid voices or why it didn't have an activation switch.

"Souls! Be my strength!"

This time, it was not the awesome display of dark blue energy the first time she activated her weapon. The black manacle dissolved into metallic pixels that reassembled themselves into a dark-grey sword chained to the wrist of the young girl.

"Demon Sword. Ready…And now…Last time it was ice…But it's not what we need…hum…"

As the schoolgirl examined the blade, she felt words coming unwillingly to her lips. "Dancing blade that burns everything." A globe of red light appeared in her cupped right hand and she inserted it into the oval polychromatic gem on the guard. The blade acquired a red sheen. "Be reduced into cinders. Fire blade!" Flames erupted along the blade.

Sakura smiled a little. "Well…it works." She then sat down and let the flaming sword near the fire. The length of the chains allowed her to retreat a little to avoid being burn by the heat.

"Awesome! That was cool girl!"

"Thank you…If only it was me who spoke those words…" Sakura loose her smile and shook a little.

"You mean like in Zanarkand when you couldn't control yourself?"

The young girl nodded and slumped down, the ordeals of the day overcoming her resistance at last. Exhausted, the two teenagers fell asleep next to the little fire and the flaming sword. And Tidus dreamed about the past.

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"What do you want?" Tidus was staring at Auron who stood in front of him.

"It was a bad call. Your team lost because of you." Auron had a disappointed tone to his voice.

"You came to say THAT?!" Tidus was shocked.

Auron didn't reply, instead silence overtook the area for a moment, before the red clad warrior spoke again. "It's been...ten years. I thought you'd be crying."

Tidus stared for a moment. "Who, me?"

The same little boy clad in purple at Zanarkand suddenly appeared then. "You cried."

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A sudden jolt brought back Sakura from an unremembered nightmare. She just had the impression of endless raging against unshakable restraints. She found herself jumping on her feet like a martial artist and withdrew her sword that was now extinguished. Once again her body was controlled by something but underneath she felt a current of urgency and…danger. She shook awake Tidus. The young boy saw that the fire was starting to die, though and sprung up, wide awake at the threat of lack of heat.

"Hey, wait! Wait! Don't go out on me! Just hold on. I'll get more wood!"

"Tidus! There's no time for that. There's something wrong around here." The young girl was whispering urgently as the sensation of danger was growing.

They looked up as a terrible screech rang out overhead. Hanging on the railing of the second floor balcony was a huge dark insectoid with yellow eyes and a barbed blade on its back. The monster shrieked a battle cry and dropped in front of the two teenagers and flashed a wicked sword blade claws at them. The arm of Sakura moved by itself as her lower body took a more solid stance. She parried the attack and retaliated with a cut to the eyes forcing the creature back and gaining them some breathing room.

'_Oh my god! I felt the enormous strength of this thing behind the strike. I hope that the one controlling my body has enough skill to protect me…_' She advised Tidus taking position on her side and drawing his sword. _'…and to help him also_.'

They fought for quite a while. Sakura yelped during a pass as the claws sliced through her right upper arm. Blood flowed but the controlling entity merely tightened her guard. With dismay she understood that she and Tidus were committed to win or die. They couldn't retreat without exposing themselves to a lethal strike.

Suddenly, one of the makeshift doors to the room exploded and several armed men rushed into the room, followed by a girl in a bodysuit and goggles. Sakura felt hope blossoming in her heart as she recognized firearms. The girl stepped up alongside the two teenagers and nodded at the monster. She then flashed what looked like a set of clawed metal knuckles on her right hand.

Sakura was puzzled that the new girl teamed up with them but that the rest of the men were merely standing out of the fight. During the fight, the schoolgirl found herself taking more and more actions by her own will. Especially when she protected a team member from a strike or when she cooperated to do a double attack. From the coin of her eye she caught her new ally pulling out a small object from her belt and pulled something away from it. She then threw the now recognizable object at the creature.

"A grenade! Take cover!" The young girl promptly threw herself to the floor on her own initiative and Tidus shortly imitate her after. The grenade went off blowing the top half of the creature completely apart before it dissolved into pyreflies. The resulting cloud was once again absorbed by the three gems of Sakura as the Demon Sword returned to its manacle form.

Meanwhile Tidus walked up to the girl looking at her as she lifted her goggles up. Tidus stared, mouth wide open for a moment, as he remarked the swirling pupils in the green-leaf eyes before sighing. "Whew! That was close."

The Japanese schoolgirl was wincing as she examined her wound. The cut was still bleeding and she used her handkerchief to stop the blood, not noticing one of the men walking up behind her. All of a sudden, the two teenagers were grabbed by the arms, Sakura gasping in pain as the rough movement opened again her wound. Tidus was struggling immediately against the contact.

"Hey! Lemme go!" He shut up as several more of the men surround them and pointed guns in their faces. A familiar fear was seizing again the young girl. She was now without a weapon and she knew the lethal potential of firearms. She simply froze in fright.

"Fryd yna druca?" (What are those?) One of the men turned to another.

'_Oh no! They don't speak Japanese_.' The odd thought lingered in the mind of Sakura. '_Hey! Wait a minute! I wasn't speaking in Japanese before…_' Her eyes widened. '_Oh my god! I wasn't speaking my native tongue since I awaked in zanarkand!_'

"Fiends! Eh risyh teckieca!" (Fiends! In human disguise!)

A third then cut in, looking at the other 2 men. "Oac! Ed ec cu!" (Yes! It is so!)

One of the men suddenly stepped in front of Tidus, brandishing a knife and holding it to his throat. Sakura gulped. She was strangely more frightened by the violence lurking around those men than by the various monsters she met before. Was it because they were human?

"Fa gemm dral?" (We kill them?)

Suddenly, the girl decided to speak up, staring at the man who had the knife to Tidus' throat. "Fyed! Fryd ev drao yna risyh?" (Wait! What if they are human?)

The man stopped for a minute, before pointing the knife at the schoolgirl who nearly lost the control of her bowels. "Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." (They are the same in death.)

The girl seemed mad now as she spoke again, this time with a definite angry tone. "E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk dral fedr ic!" (I forbid it! We bring them with us!)

She then turned and walked over to Tidus. Sakura held her breath, praying for a miracle.

"Cunno." (Sorry.) She seemed to smile sadly before driving her knee into the stomach of the young blond man, making him groan in pain for a moment, before passing out completely. Sakura took a breath to scream but was slammed in the back of the head with the butt of a gun and fell unconscious.

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Notes: Thanks to Sephlier and Drachegirl14 for their reviews and comments.

I am very satisfied with the shape of my story so far. I hope it is the same with you.

I should make sure that everybody understands that it was not the fayth that sent Sakura in Spira. Four cosmic forces are responsible. They will remain mysterious for now. A hint: All their names begin by the capital letter 'D'.

I purposely translated the Al Bhed because I didn't like it the first time and not everyone is capable to translate it on the spot.

Speaking of translation. Yes, they don't speak Japanese or English in Spira. If we take how the game is created then everybody should speak Japanese but many writers said that they speak English. (Of course or they would be unable to write their stories.) So, once again, we have the 'mysterious-method-of-instant-insertion-of-a-complete-foreign-language'.

Read and review please.


	5. Rikku, the Al Bhed

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura Hayakawa.

**Chap 4: Rikku, the Al Bhed.**

Sakura awaked feeling that an entire clan of angry dwarves were claiming first right of mining inside her head. She found herself on a ship of some kind: A modern ship apparently. She winced at the pain at the back of her skull and dragged herself into a sitting position to examine her surroundings. She sighed in relief as she saw Tidus laying several feet from her, still alive but still unconscious.

Of course, being on a ship, they were surrounded by the ocean. In fact, there was nothing else but the ocean. Tidus began to moan as consciousness returned to him. He was having the strange sensation of repetition. Why was that? Oh yes, it was not the first time he has been knocked-out. The young girl helped him to sit up. Unfortunately, one of the men from earlier noticed this as well and turned around to glare at them. After a moment, the man walked over and hit Tidus sending him falling back to the dismay of the Japanese schoolgirl.

"Ced, lybdejac!" (Sit, captives!)

"Hey, that hurts!"

"Please! We don't understand you!"

The man just stood there before speaking again in an equally harsh tone. "Hu sujehk, rayn?" (No moving, hear?)

Tidus seemed stunned by the fierceness of the man and Sakura just cringed at the threatening voice.

"Whoa...okay." The blitzball player turned to the black-haired girl and tried to smile reassuringly.

The green-eyed Japanese decided to stay on the floor and to not do anything unless forcefully moved. She has still her manacles and collar, so she was still armed. She internally snorted. What was the use of a melee weapon, even hidden, against firearms? She looked as two more people approached them.

Sakura felt a little hope in her heart as she recognized one as the same girl who fought with them in the ruin. The other is a tall man with a blond Mohawk. He was also wearing goggles, the same as all the rest of the ship's crew.

"Ev oui fyhd du cdyo rana, oui pudr socd fung!" (If you want to stay here, you both must work!) The man then began to make a strange series of motions with his arms like he was swimming. Tidus just stared, a dumbfounded look on his face.

"Right. Whatever."

"I think they want us to swim. But where? And why?"

The man walked up to Tidus, gesturing even more.

"Tu oui hud ihtancdyht?" (Do you not understand?) He pulled out some sort of necklace, and gesturing to it.

"We said we don't UNDERSTAND!"

Another one of the men then pointed his gun at Tidus, apparently seeing the action as a hostile gesture. "Ehcumala!" (Insolence!)

The girl suddenly moved towards Tidus and motioned for the other two men to stop. "Fyed!" (Wait!) She then turned to the two teenagers. "He said you can stay if you both make yourselves useful."

Tidus and Sakura both blinked in shock for a moment.

"You...you understand us?" The man behind Tidus smacked him in the back of the head with the gun.

"All right, I'll work!" The young man was beginning to feel annoyed at being hit so many times.

The girl turned to the schoolgirl "Are you going to help too?"

"Yes…Of course! But help to do what?" '_And why didn't you speak earlier? It would have prevented much violence._'

"There's an ancient ruin on the ocean floor. It cannot be operated right now but there's probably still some energy left. I think that if we work on it a little, we can probably make it come back to life again and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!"

Sakura stared in astonishment and pointed to Tidus. "I know he can swim fairly and stay a long time underwater. But I can't. I can swim but I have no equipment to work underwater." She didn't bring out that she was also fairly feeble with almost no grasp in heavy manual labour.

The girl smiled and showed the Japanese a useful chemical of their world. It enabled the user to absorb oxygen through the skin. She also graciously lent her a pair of goggles to see underwater and explain a few things about working underwater. One of the strangest pointers was the possibility to speak underwater. The words will be garbled by the water but still comprehensible.

The group of three dived over the side of the ship into the murky abyss below and begin to swim towards the location of the ruins by following a chain linking the boat to the excavation site.

Sakura was surprised by her newfound resistance to the coldness of the water. The chemical was very useful and explained so much of the capacities of Tidus. She just had to fight the natural reflex to want to breathe after a few minutes underwater. And, of course, she had to support her clinging clothes. A school uniform was not the recommended suit to swim for long. And she didn't have to start about her shoes.

The descent was not a picnic in the park as several big fishes decided that the three teenagers were comestible. They looked like piranhas made of metal. To her stupefaction, Sakura manifested her chained sword almost unconsciously when she saw the threat. With three fighters, two who are familiar with underwater combat, the battle was promptly expedited. It was then that the Japanese girl witnessed another strange thing about this world.

The pyreflies were absorbed by her gems but the creatures have left a few things behind them. The dimensional-displaced girl squinted as she considered what she was seeing. Several differently coloured little spheres were floating with some objects. Their guide smiled and reached for one sphere. It diffused energy into her body and then disappeared.

"What is that?"

"Those spheres? They are spheres for the grid."

"The grid?"

"Yes. It's the name for the complex weave that those spheres enable to activate within someone."

"I do not understand."

The foreign girl sighed. "Look. Those spheres grant powers or skills and boost the capacities of the person which absorb them. The more spheres you absorbed, the more powerful you are. If you concentrate enough you can even feel the grid within yourself and know in advance what type of sphere and how many you need in order to learn this or that skill."

"And the objects?"

"Partial material transmutation. When the pyreflies are released by the death of the fiend, they are transmuted into objects by the combination of your will and the nature of the fiend." She smiled wickedly. "This is also how I could steal grenades from them. I learned to partially transmute a part of their energies into matter."

Sakura numbly nodded. It was true that grenades were not standard equipment for a fish. This world was weird, dangerous and weird. She frowned. She still didn't know how this world was called. In fact she knew very little of this world. Knowledge was power, but in this case, it was more knowledge was survival. The thing that was screaming wrong in her mind was the money left by the dead fiends. It was a stereotype of videos games: The vanquished enemy left money, points of experience and items behind.

As she reached for a sphere and felt the energy entering her, she really hoped that she wasn't into a giant video game or worse into something like this American film where reality was computer-generated for the entire earth population.

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The group finally arrived to the excavation site without any more problems. It was a good thing because Sakura was really feeling the pressure of the water now. Worse, she was famished and the lack of sugar in her blood combined to the cold was making her shake like crazy and seeing swirls in the corner of her vision. Their guide gently reached to the schoolgirl and popped something in her mouth.

It was food. It was a little bland but to the Japanese it was a taste of heaven. She swallowed rapidly and found her energy renewed. She smiled and turned her attention to the door of the ruins. Their guide opened the doors and the two teenagers followed her inside.

It was obviously the remains of a lab. There were dead computers and many others technological non-functioning devices in the big room. The foreign girl smiled to Tidus. "Time to earn your pay."

Tidus swam to the consol in the middle of the room and looked at it critically. He shrugged and prepared to use brute strength to activate it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

He blinked as he considered the horrified face of the black-haired girl. "Huh? I'm resolving the problem. Why?"

Sakura slapped her face with her hand. It was so typical of a male. "Give me your place. You obviously don't know how to operate a computer." He could have provoked the destruction of the lab with such a move.

The schoolgirl examined the console and found that it was not too different from her world. They were even using a Romanji-type keyboard. It was a very durable design since she managed to reconnect it underwater. On the screen, various icons appeared. Interesting, it reminded her of the cyberpunk counter-culture and the icon-domination of the future Net. She reset the program and asked for rebooting the whole facility. Behind her goggles she could see the widened eyes of their guide. She was apparently familiar with such technology but not to the degree of the Japanese girl.

The group proceeded to activate all the power-sources of the site by a combination of sheer luck, brute strength and know-how earth science. When they activated the last consol, the three teenagers shared a smile for a good job done and proceed to the exit. It was unfortunately at this moment that the guardian of the facility struck.

A giant squid-like monster blocked suddenly the exit and a fierce battle began. The squid has the advantage of fast swimming and long reach with his tentacles. The three teenagers have their numbers for them and surrounded it when it became obvious that the creature withdrew when it was wounded and waited for its regenerative capacity to bring it back at full power.

A ferocious lash sent Sakura into a wall. The pain combined with the fear of dying seemed to unlock something in the Japanese. She took advantage of several grenades lobbed by the foreign girl and concentrate on her sword.

"SOULS! BE MY STRENGTH!"

The gem on the sword seemed to burst into a dark blue aura of power that chilled the blood of the two others fighters.

"Demon Sword! Ready!"

For once, the controlling entity and the schoolgirl had the same idea: Destroying the squid-like monster.

Sakura pointed her right hand on the fiend. "I have chosen the element to deal with the likes of you!" A yellow sphere of light appeared in her cupped right hand. "Swift death from above that shatters the sky!" She inserted the sphere in the gem on the guard and the blade took a yellow sheen. "Light and burn the Heaven. LIGHTNING BLADE!"

The green-eyed girl threw herself to the squid, crackling sword in hand and slashed the creature which erupted into a cloud of pyreflies promptly absorbed by the polychromatic jewels.

"Yeah! I've got it!" She floated unmoving into the water as her body reminded her that she was not in good shape. "Oooh. I don't feel so good."

Tidus approached his comrade and gave to her a small turquoise vial. "Drink this, you'll feel better."

The liquid soothed her aching body and closed the various wounds she got until now. Amazed, she didn't see a scar even on the most serious ones. "What is it?"

"A potion of health. Good stuff, right?"

The group exited the ruin and examined it from above as they swam towards the salvage ship. The power was turned back on and the external lights shined the ocean floor, showing the vague outlines of a ship.

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After she managed to climb aboard the salvage ship, Sakura simply fell down on the floor, completely exhausted. She managed to send a weak glare to Tidus who appeared quite refreshed by his underwater labour and the still hyperactive foreign young girl. Around the three teenagers, the rest of the crew seemed quit excited by what has been discovered.

"Fa vuiht dra airship!" (We found the airship!)

"Dra naluntc fana nekrd." (The records were right.)

"E lyhhud pameaja fa vuiht ed!" (I cannot believe we found it!)

"Huf, ruf du tnyk ed ib?" (Now, how to drag it up?) The man with a Mohawk entered the crew quarter with the rest of the men. As Tidus attempted to follow them he stopped him. "Oui, uidceta!" (You, outside!)

" Hey, I helped out didn't I?!" The door slammed shut in his face.

"How do you like that? We do all their dirty work and they won't even let us sit in on their little meeting!" He then remarked that the black-haired chick has not moved since they climbed aboard. "Hey? Are you all right?"

"Nothing that rest and food can't heal."

Tidus looked like he was of the same advice as he started to massage his stomach "Uh…hungry…"

Somewhere behind him, a door opened and the foreign girl exited with two trays of food. As she approached Tidus she gave him a swift kick in the shoulder and as he turned round, eyes flaming, she gently slipped the plate down in front of him.

"Whoa, right on!" Tidus started gulping the meal down as though it would be his last one.

She smiled and approached the slumped young girl with the other tray. "Vuut?" (Food?)

Sakura opened an eye wit some difficulty. She was so cold, she was not even shaking. "Huh…?"

"Oh sorry, food?" She frowned and examined the schoolgirl. With dismay she came to the conclusion that she was near hypothermia. She put down the tray and rushed to bring back a rough blanket. After wrapping the Japanese, she forced her to drink an alcoholised preparation.

Liquid fire entered the throat then the stomach of the frozen teenager and revitalized her enough to sample the tray. Food, drink and a warm blanket, she was in paradise. Funny how such little things can bring so much when one was in a dire situation. She was so famished that the strange taste of the food didn't faze her.

The foreign girl sighed as she saw Tidus swallowed so fast that he nearly gagged on the food and she handed him a jug of water to wash it down. Finally no longer hungry, the blond blitzball player looked to their guide.

"Hello there. What is your name?"

"Rikku."

"Whoa! You really do understand! Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I didn't get a chance to. Everyone thought 'oui' were fiends."

Tidus was a little puzzled by the last sentence. "Uh…'we'?"

"Oh, 'oui' means 'you'." Rikku removed her goggles, exhibited her emerald green eyes.

"Who are you guys?"

"We're from the Al Bhed tribe. You should know from our language. Hey, you probably hate the Al Bhed people."

"We are strangers here, Rikku. We don't…At least I don't know anything about the Al Bhed."

"Sakura is right. We don't even know you."

"So where are the two of you from?"

"Zanarkand. I'm the ace of the Zanarkand Abes, the city's Blitzball team."

Rikku stared at Tidus. "Did you hit your head too hard one time?"

"Nope, but I was hit struck by you guys."

"Do you remember anything before that?"

Tidus told Rikku everything, from life and competition in Zanarkand, Sin's attack during the Blitzball competition, to escaping with Auron and being wrapping in the light... Rikku became uneasy.

"Did I say something odd?"

Instead of replying, Rikku turned back to Sakura. "Is this your story as well?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I didn't know about Zanarkand before I awake in the city just a few moments before this monster you called Sin attack." She smiled a little. "I come from a big island called Japan. I am a student here and I don't know how or why I am here. Heck, I don't even know where we are or how this world is called."

Rikku nodded as she came to her own conclusions. "You two got close to Sin. That's okay. We can fix you up. People who get too close to Sin usually get their heads mixed up. So, you're not the only ones who have seen strange dreams."

"We're sick?" That seemed a little far-fetched to the Japanese girl.

"I think you're poisoned by Sin."

"What?"

"Anyway…Zanarkand doesn't exist anymore. It was destroyed by Sin 1000 years ago. So, you can't be a blitzball player from Zanarkand."

"What? How can it be? 1000 years ago? I saw…I mean, WE saw Sin attack Zanarkand. That was 1000 years ago!? I can't believe that!"

When Rikku didn't say anything it seemed it had finally hit home. The eyes of Tidus were wide and unseeing and he was clearly in shock. He just couldn't take in the magnitude of what Rikku had told him. He turned to Sakura, desperate to have, at least, a witness on what happened.

"Rikku. I remember perfectly what happened in Zanarkand. The people, the buildings and Sin were too real. I don't think two persons could have the same dream at the same time."

Rikku was dubious and thought about it a moment. "Hey..."

"What?"

"You're a Blitzball player, right?"

"Yes."

"Maybe if we go to Luca, we can figure out something. Maybe there's someone there who knows you. Maybe it'll help you remember something."

"Luca?"

"Okay! Just leave it to me! I'll take the two of you to Luca! It's a big city so Sakura could find a clue to her land."

Tidus hesitated and Sakura looked doubtful although the young girl couldn't but hope that it was possible to find something familiar to her in a big city.

"Don't you want to go? Wait here for a second while I speak to the others." As she walked away, Rikku remembered to tell Tidus something. "Ah, from now on, remember this. It's better to not tell people that you're from Zanarkand. I think some people will be mad because Zanarkand is Yevon's holy place."

"Sure..." '_Zanarkand is Yevon's holy ground…I didn't know what to make of it. Yevon? Sin's poison? Luca? I had thought only that I and Sakura have come to a far away place, and that we will return soon. 1000 years have passed?_'

Sakura was worried. She was not very happy about the situation but she could see that Tidus was more and more angry.

"I can't believe it!" Tidus turned around and kicked the base of the crane. The whole ship shook, knocking him off balance. In the distance Sakura could hear the blast as something came out of the water. Doors started opening all around the ship and Al Bhed poured out of them running and trying to make sense of what was happening and what to do about it.

"Sin ec rana!" (Sin is here!)

"Ihtan ic, ihtan ic!" (Under us, under us!)

Sakura was not proficient with Al Bhed after such a little exposition but the word 'Sin' was self-explicatory. Her blood chilled as she considered that the monster responsible of the destruction of a city was here.

Tidus rushed to help his comrade against the lurches of the ship but a wave generated by Sin washed them off the ship and into the ocean... Once again darkness devoured the consciousness of the two teenagers.

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Notes: Sakura seemed absorbing the shock to be in another world? Don't worry, it's just that she didn't have the time to recuperate from the ordeal. A nervous breakdown is due when she will unwind a little.

Tidus and Sakura appeared to be a couple? Wrong! It's just that they are the only familiar person to each other in vicinity.

I'm not sure that I could develop a romance for Sakura. Her personality and the available partners do not permit such a thing for now.

However, I'm going to create deep friendship with a few characters of the game.

Thank you to Drachegirl14 for her review.

Read and review please.


	6. Don't I have the right to cry?

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura Hayakawa.

**Chap 5: Don't I have the right to cry?**

Sakura was floating in the darkness. Her mind was oscillating between dizziness and plain unconsciousness. She felt as if she was restrained by strings on all her limbs: A parody of a doll hanging in the abyss.

"Is it prudent to summon her each time her spirit is not in the here and now?"

"**The only ones capable to detect our work are those who want the renewal of Spira**."

"And it is necessary to have her at hand to make the adjustments needed."

"_I'm curious why she didn't try to activate the others parts yet_."

"**Fear. Pure, simple and plain fear. Although I have been surprised when they worked together against Tros**."

"Why?"

"**'He'** **was never a team player. Even if 'he' wanted to protect his wielder, 'he' would have simply take complete control and not follow her will**."

"_I am sensing that she is more aware than she should be_."

"**It is of no importance. She is just a slave, our slave**."

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The Japanese girl found herself completely awake and…underwater. She erupted to the surface coughing and sputtering under a magnificent blue sky and a gorgeous sun. Apparently, she was near a tropical beach with water up to her waist. Her clothes were ragged and she missed her shoes but curiously, her skin was not wrinkled by the long exposure to the sea-water.

"Rikku!" She turned to the scream and smiled as she recognized Tidus then frowned. Where was their Al Bhed saviour?

The blond young man felt relief when he saw his comrade-in-pain. "Hey, Sakura!" While he was staring up to the black-haired girl, something struck him in the head. He barely made out figures on the beach and before him was a blue… "Blitzball!"

"Are you all right?" screamed one of the men on the beach.

Tidus smiled and yelled back to the men. "Heeey!" He then took the ball and dove underwater. The ball then came up out of the water, followed by Tidus a moment later. As the ball reached the apex of its flight, Tidus flipped upside down and smashed the ball towards the beach in a perfect bicycle kick. To the inexperienced eyes of Sakura, the ball went sailing towards the beach at about twice the speed it flew before, narrowly missing the person who had yelled at the teenagers, sailing by his head.

"Whoa-ho!" The man was orange-haired with a most peculiar cut which looked like a swept back crest-wave and smirked to the five men behind him. All were wearing the same yellow uniform that reminded the schoolgirl of the Blitzball uniforms in Zanarkand.

The two displaced persons started to swim towards the beach. Sakura was not feeling very good. Her whole body was very sore and she felt famished. Well, at least, they will be on land for now.

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It was perhaps the fatigue or perhaps she was manipulated again but Sakura found herself quite a distance to the right of the group. She blinked. She was more exhausted than she thought. She then remarked the chest almost completely hidden under the sand and vegetation. Intrigued, she managed to open it without too much difficulty to find a curious symbol of silver in the form of a crescent moon and 2 vials of a bright green liquid. Shaking her head, she hastily put the items in her belt and rushed to rejoin Tidus and the group on the beach.

Tidus was all smiles. "Yo! Hiya!"

"You wanna try that move one more time?" The orange haired man tossed another ball at Tidus as he headed back into the water. He then copied the technique he had done earlier. Tidus and Sakura both sensed that they may get some real help this time around. "You're no amateur. Who you play for?"

"The Zanarkand Abes!"

The group of same dressed men glanced at each other with a confused look painted on each of their faces and the eyes of the Japanese girl widened as she remembered the warning given by Rikku. The orange-haired man blinked. "What team you say again?"

"Uh…I mean…forget that. I got too close to Sin and…uh…my head's all foggy-like. So I don't know where this place is or even where I came from."

The man turned to Sakura. "And you? Do you remember where you come from? Were you too close to Sin also?"

The schoolgirl ignored the silent warnings of the Blond young man. "Yes. I remember although I was near Sin. I come from an island called Japan."

The man crossed his arms, thinking a moment then shrugged. "Can't say I remember an island called Japan, ya. But, oh well, can't know every little islands around here." He smiled, not remarking the sudden paleness of the young girl. "Sin's toxin must have gotten to both of you. But, you're still alive. Praise be to Yevon!"

The whole group then gave the two teenagers a curious salute: Right forearm over the left, they moved their hands in a circle in front of them, before moving them into a rough sphere shape and bowing.

"All right, back to practice!" The others dispersed off at the order of the orange-haired man, apparently having been in the middle of blitzball practice before. "I'm Wakka, coach and captain of the Besaid Aurochs, brudda."

The empty stomach of Tidus answered Wakka, promptly followed by the twin response of the stomach of Sakura.

"What? You hungry? Okay! Back to the village. I'll get you two somethin'!"

Sakura smiled a little, embarrassed and bowed in gratitude. "I thank you, captain Wakka. My name is Sakura and my companion is Tidus."

As he walked, Tidus tried to organize his thoughts about the situation so far. '_I thought Wakka was a pretty nice guy, so I tried asking..._' "Hey, Zanarkand was destroyed by Sin 1000 years ago, right? I guess it's all just a ruin now."

Wakka stopped and turned to Tidus. "A long time ago, there were many incredible cities in Spira. They were large cities full of machinery or Machina, noisy even at night. It was because everyone was having interesting and strange fun with the power of Machina. But now…look." He gestured to some old ruins dotting the beach. "Suddenly Sin appeared, and all the Machina-cities were destroyed. Of course, that includes Zanarkand. That happened about 1000 years ago. So, what you said was true. Well, Sin got carried away. It's some punishment for people. Really…it makes me so ANGRY to think that WE have to suffer because of the faults of people so long ago. Of course, it's an important duty for people of today to atone for their sins. That, I understand. Yes, but sometimes I just..."

Tidus was crushed by what he heard. '_It's just like what Rikku said. There's no reason for Wakka or Rikku to lie to me_.'

Sakura stayed silent. The faint hope that she was still in her world had been obliterate by Wakka. He had no reason to lie and who on Earth had not heard of Japan. A 'little island'? Where was she, in the name of God? As typical Japanese, she learned early how to not make any waves. It would be preferable for her and Tidus to stay silent and listen to every little scrap of knowledge.

Wakka suddenly laughed, breaking through the sombre silence, before grabbing Tidus around the neck in a headlock, and giving him a noogie. Tidus tried desperately to squirm his way out. "But you from the Zanarkand Abes. That was a good one! Hey, I'm not saying the team never existed, ya? But you gotta figure a team living in luxury like that'd be pretty soft, eh?"

Tidus just smiled a crooked smile before walking off ahead. All he was thinking of was how he may be able to get back to Zanarkand by meeting Sin again. He didn't care where or when Sin may take him. He then felt the light hand of Sakura on his shoulder.

"He doesn't know Tidus." She softly whispered. "I don't think he can imagine what happened to us, less helping us directly except by telling us more about this world." She held her typical sad smile. "Try to take it one day apiece, it's much easier."

"Hey! It's this way!" The two teenagers turned and ran back to Wakka. After a moment, they came to a large cliff, overlooking a lagoon of some sort. Tidus looked down into the water and found himself flying down the cliff because of a push by Wakka.

Sakura turned angrily to the Auroch coach. "Captain Wakka! What are you doing?!"

"Hey! Hey! It's just a shortcut. Beside, taking the other way is more dangerous. There are fiends, ya know."

The Japanese schoolgirl sighed and considered the distance to the water. She knew how to swim but it was a 'bit' higher than the diving board at the swimming pool of the school. She then felt the hand of Wakka pushing her and screamed as she plummeted to the surface of the water.

She surfaced, coughing water. Wakka followed down the cliff in a perfect dive and laughed to the furious face of the green-eyed girl when he surfaced. "WAKKA NO BAKA!" She waved her fist to the soon-to-die orange-haired man.

"Hey? What did you say?"

"I SAID YOU ARE AN IDIOT!"

The face of Wakka lost his smile and considered the young girl. "Say, it was not Al Bhed, ya?"

"Huh? No, it was Japanese, my native tongue."

Wakka beamed again. "Ah! You're one from the lost islands that recently been rediscovered, ya? Explain your clothes and language. Praise be to Yevon that you learn Spiran." He then turned and swam vigorously down the lagoon.

Able to dive and stay a long time underwater, Tidus found some chests partially buried under the sand. He gleefully recuperated the items inside and put them in his pockets. To the stupefaction of Sakura, the same type of pocket as her belt, capable to hold a great number of small items, was common in this world since Wakka had the same pockets. It was another sign that Spira was more like the original world of Tidus than her own Earth. Was this possible? Sin made them travel 1000 years in the future of Zanarkand?

As they drew closer to the end of the lagoon Wakka put Tidus into a headlock.

"Lemme go!"

"I got a favour to ask ya." Wakka stated frankly.

"You want me on your team, right?" Wakka let him slip out of his headlock and down into the water.

"A major blitz tournament's coming up. All the teams in Spira'll be there! It's so huge, I'm sure someone there will recognize you! Then you can go back to your old team, right? It'll be fun! What do you say, huh? Come on, come on!"

"Sure thing."

"Thanks. I'm counting on you at the tournament."

Coming out of the water, the group walked a while as Wakka continued to speak about him and his village. "I was born there and started playing blitzball when I was 5 years old. At 13, I started playing with the Besaid Aurochs…and I've now been playing for 10 years." He scratched his head. "But, even after 10 years, I have not even won once at the big tournament." He paused. "Had to back out of last year's big tournament at the end. Well, after withdrawing from the competition, I started a new job. But whenever I get a little discouraged, I would think about blitzball."

Tidus considered the blitzball captain. "In 10 years, you've never won a game."

"There was a chance last year. But it was hard, and we couldn't concentrate in the game."

"It's a good reason."

"It's tough."

"So, you want to get a fresh start by winning at the next grand tournament?" Wakka

nodded. "What is your goal in the tournament?"

"The ranking doesn't matter. I'll be happy if we can play a good match. I think I can stop refreshing if there's feeling of completion, a feeling that we did it seriously."

Tidus turned around and waved his arm. "When you're asked 'Goal', you answer 'Victory'. You WILL win if you're entering a match. What is there other than that?"

"Victory…That's better?"

Sakura inserted herself in the discussion. "Of course, it's better, captain Wakka. If you go to the tournament thinking you'll loose, you WILL loose! Fighting spirit is everything."

Wakka smiled as he considered the words of the two teenagers and stroke his chin. They came across an old ruin. The captain of the Aurochs waved to it. "In an old practice, folks who leave the island will pray at this ruin for safety. It has worked pretty well."

As they approached the village, they encountered two characters seen leaving the beach. Both were armed and sported leather armours. The man with red hair approached Tidus and Sakura. "Ah, aren't you the man and the girl who came from the sea?"

His companion continued. "You had better be on guard because there are many fiends on the road."

"Although you were close to Sin, you were very lucky to just have the problem of the toxin. Don't get killed in a place like this!"

Sakura bowed to them. "Thank you for your kind advice, sirs."

After the departure of the two men, Tidus asked Wakka. "Who are they?"

"Luzzu and Gatta, members of the Crusaders."

"What? Crews of what?"

Sakura sighed. "Crusaders, Tidus. That mean they are members of a fighting force for a holy cause."

Wakka nodded. "Ya, what she said. You have forgotten even this?"

Tidus slumped down in disappointment so Wakka promptly tried to cheer him. "Oh, no. Don't worry. I'll take care of both of you."

"Cool. In return, come tournament time, I'll make sure we take the cup!"

The Japanese girl bowed again. "Thank you, captain Wakka. I will repay you in the future, I promise."

Wakka smiled. "Cool. About the Crusaders, you can ask them yourself. They've got a lodge in the village."

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They finally arrived at the village. It was not very big, but bigger than one may expect. A walled village with straw huts decorated the surrounding landscape, looking like an Indian village for a moment to the eyes of the extra-dimensional girl. That is, until she saw the temple. The temple was a huge multi-story stone structure.

Wakka turned to his charges. "Here's Besaid Village."

Sakura continued to examine the architecture. "It's different from my home."

"Oh, ya?"

"Yes, we mainly use squared wood structures with panels of paper and straw mats." Sakura couldn't speak about her modern cities as Wakka had hinted that technology was a very bad thing for their religion. But Japan had enough traditional structures that she would not be forced to lied, only to not say everything.

Tidus looked awfully sad to the blitzball coach. "Is there any food?"

Wakka pointed to a house. "You can eat at that house later. First, go kill some free time." He put his hands on his waist. "Oh yeah… That is the 'Crusaders' lodge'. Try to ask Luzzu and Gatta various things." Wakka started to walk away but remembered something. "Oh, yeah. Come this way, you two."

"What?"

"Even you two should surely remember the prayer?"

"I forgot."

"I am not one of your faith, captain."

"Even the basic thing in life? And what do you mean, you're not of my 'faith'… Oh, ya! You're from the lost islands. No problem, even the Guados have seen the truth about Yevon. Well, I'll teach you two anyway. Okay." Wakka then showed them how to pray. It was the same moves that the Aurochs performed on the beach. "Now, you try it." Tidus and Sakura tried the prayer moves.

"Okay! That's good. Now, go introduce yourselves to the summoners at the temple."

Tidus considered the prayer to Yevon. '_Well, for blitzball players, everyone knows that it was the sign for victory_.' He turned to the Japanese girl. "Well, I'm off to see the Crusaders. Want to tag along?"

Sakura smile wearily. "No, thank you. I need a little rest. I will find you later."

As Tidus went to visit the lodge of the Crusaders, Sakura searched a place where she could be alone for a while. Her exploration revealed a few trinkets: A shining red-orange feather, 2 potions of health, some money and a vial with the same liquid as the health potion but in a larger vial.

Exhausted physically and mentally, she slumped down behind a hut that served as a shop. Everything she lived so far came, crashing down from her memory. Tears began to fall silently. She was alone: She was the only Japanese in this strange and dangerous world. She was separated from her family and her friends perhaps forever. She gathered herself in a foetal position and wept. She felt so miserable.

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Tidus went to visit the Crusaders lodging with the intention to speak with Luzzu and Gatta. Sakura was right, they needed information and quickly.

Gatta advised him as he entered. "Hey, you were attacked by Sin? Was that recent?"

"Probably…"

"So, is Sin close to the island? Aren't you hiding something from us?"

"Of course not!"

Luzzu spoke to explain the problem. "If Sin came close to here then we can suppose it could come here to attack the island. Still… There's no such indication."

"It's bad, but I don't understand anything. The main point is that I don't understand anything about the Crusaders."

Gatta looked to him incredulous. "Are you joking? Sin's poison..."

"Tell him, Gatta."

"Yes, sir Luzzu. The Crusaders is an organization designed to fight Sin. We have support groups all over Spira and anyone can join the local group as a volunteer. The Crusaders originated as the "Crimson Blades", started by the hero Mi'ihen 800 years ago. Years later, as the organization got bigger, it changed its name to the Crusaders. Since then, we have continued to fight against Sin."

"Continuing to fighting for 800 years… You are really fighting for a holy cause… You can't defeat Sin?"

Gatta felt praised then embarrassed. "Ah…"

Luzzu continued the explication. "What has the Crusaders has been able to do is to make Sin change its routes… Well, that is about the extent that I can say for sure. Sin probably cannot be defeated by us. The duty of the Crusaders is to protect the temples, cities, villages, and people from Sin."

"Well, who will defeat Sin?"

Gatta, eyes widened, turned to Luzzu. "…Is Sin's poison really so powerful?"

"Yeah, this is pretty awful." He looked at Tidus. "To tell you would be pretty easy, but if you can, it would be better for you to remember it yourself. Go to the temple and strike up a prayer. Try to remember everything."

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"Praise be to Yevon! What happened to you, my girl?"

Sakura jerked back in the reality and gazed up with her tearing eyes into kind and wise grey eyes. It was an elderly person clad in robes that looked formals. "I…I am one of the few escapees from an attack of Sin."

The wise eyes widened. "Oh! That terrible! Praise be to Yevon, you are alive at least."

Sakura shook her head. "I…I can't go home…My family…my friends…I have almost nothing…no one…what I am going to do?" She sobbed, hiding her face in her hands.

The priest of Yevon shook his greyed head in dismay. Another tragedy, another lost girl and another family send to the farplane. The dull words of a Yevonite seemed very little against the pain of the heart, but Yevon offered Hope of a bright future when they will atone for their past sins.

"Come with me my child. Our temple has finally received the statue of High Summoner Braska. Come and we will pray for your loved ones."

He took the hand of the Japanese girl. She didn't resist. She was not of their faith, but found that it was dangerous to reveal such a thing now. And, besides she needed to pray for the guidance of her ancestors. She needed time and focus to recompose herself. Tears will not serve her in this world.

The priest smiled as the young girl followed him. With a little guidance and encouragement, he could make her an acolyte in the temple and soothed the wounds of her heart. She was not in a great shape in those rags and looked famished. Charity was something that Yevon could offer to those who have lost something.

He guided her in the living quarters of the priests and gave her into the expert hands of another disciple to be fed and clothed after taking a bath. After that, he would lead her in a prayer and after time has healed her, offer her a place under the wing of Yevon.

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Tidus entered the temple and gaped before the multiples statues inside. '_Something, really. It was really a world I don't know about_.' Tidus inspected one of the great sculptures in the temple.

Seeing his interest, a priest approached him. "It's been 10 years since Braska became a High Summoner. The holy image was finally realized in this temple."

"What is a High Summoner?"

That statement shocked everyone in the temple and everybody looked at him. Before he sputtered an excuse, someone interposed herself and bowed to the audience.

"Please, find in your heart to excuse my friend. He had suffered from Sin's poison and has not recovered from it, yet."

Tidus took a double-take as he recognized Sakura. She was completely different from the ragged frail form from before. She had taken a bath, apparently, and was clad in new clothes. Her long black hair was shining and a silver butterfly was pinned on the side. Her clothes were a simple knee-length dark-blue pleated skirt and a white sleeveless shirt. On her feet was calf-length dark-blue laced boots. She has still the dark grey belt from the ruins and, of course, her black manacles and crimson collar. '_Well, what do you know? I bet she found something to eat also_.' He sighed internally. '_Whenever we have explained the something, I feel a little strange… It was lonely_.'

Reassured, the crowd dispersed, sympathy shining in their eyes. The priest continued. "Praise be to Yevon that Sin only took your memory. The summoners…as works of mystery, are people who protect us, the believers of Yevon. These chosen summoners can manipulate the Aeons, holy creatures that do not have flesh and blood. These Aeons, appearing in response to prayers, are blessings of the great Yevon."

"We thank you for your patience and your explanation." The Japanese girl executed the Yevon prayer, imitated by Tidus after she discretely mashed his toes. She then took the elbow of the blitzball player and escorted him outside.

The two teenagers sighed in relief as they exited.

"Thanks, Sakura, I thought I really blew it for a moment."

For the first time since her arrival in Spira, Sakura smiled a real smile that reflected in her green eyes. "It was no trouble, Tidus. We are together in this." She searched for something in her belt. "Here, I thought about you when they gave me a little food."

It was just a small loaf of bread but to the famished blond boy, it was celestial manna. "Aaaah, that hit the spot… So, did you find something useful?"

Her gaze darkened as she considered what she had discovered. "Not really. The Yevon faith seemed to be a global one and, so far, all yevonites are rather zealous. All form of technology is banned. They seemed to rely heavily on natural resources and strengths and…magic."

"Magic?"

The newly clothed schoolgirl nodded and reached for the silver butterfly in her hair. "This little bauble is actually a form of magical protection called a 'Seeker's Hairpin'. It also augments a little my life-force. A priest gave it to me for if I would encounter fiends."

"Oh yeah. It's true that this world is a little dangerous for tourists. I should equip myself also. I found some money earlier."

"Then you're in luck." She smiled. "I have also some money and I know where the shop of this village is."

The two teenagers visited the shop. Tidus found little in the way of equipment with the exception of a small and simple buckler that was perfect for his left forearm. Comparing with what she had in her pockets and the items available, Sakura rapidly identified what was the items she found before: Vials of Antidote against poison, a Phoenix Down to revive someone and a Hi-Potion of health.

Left with no place to explore, our two shoppers returned to Wakka's place. The captain of the Aurochs smiled as he saw his two charges. It seemed that the little girl had found some local clothes and now looked like a native. That was good: Although she seemed a beginner in the way of Yevon, she had a good heart. Tidus had also a good heart under his jock's image. It was too bad that Sin's toxin had affected him so much.

"Sorry guys, the food isn't ready yet. Why not rest for a while. Aren't you tired?"

Sakura thought about it. Her hunger had been appeased for now and the bath had given her a bit of her strength. Yes, a nap seemed a very good idea. She smiled gratefully to Wakka and sat down on a big cushion. She promptly fell asleep.

Tidus smirked as he saw the young girl sleeping so easily. '_There really isn't much of a choice. Either starve or sleep..._' He slumped down on the low bed in the tent and left his tired spirit floating.

As they were napping, a priest came to Wakka's residence to talk to him. "Praise be to Yevon, Wakka. Do you know how the trial of our apprentice summoner is?"

"I dunno. However Lu and Kimahri are with her."

The priest seemed worried. "I wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to go and check on her situation."

Wakka get up. "Um… I think she is okay, but…"

"However, the time is nearly up…"

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Tidus dreamed. He dreamed of the past, of Zanarkand, of his past in Zanarkand.

There was a ship docked at the port. A man spoke to a worried woman. "But, the time is nearly up…"

"It's nearly a day now…"

The scene changed and the same woman with a young blond child spoke to another man. "Won't you please check on the situation for me?"

"Um, we are looking for him by dividing the work among people involved."

The woman held her hands together. "Thank you very much."

The boy revealed himself to be Tidus as a child. "Though, it's okay with me if that man doesn't come back."

The woman, who was Tidus' mother in fact, turned to him. "He may have died."

"That's fine."

His mother was surprised by the venom in his words. "How can… How can you hate your dad so much?" The woman knelt to look at her son in the eyes. "If he died, you won't be able to tell him even that you hate him."

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Sakura dreamed. At least, she really hoped that she was dreaming.

"I wonder. Why did you not make a divination for her destiny?"

"Why should I? As long as our destructive eminence maintains her in his grip, anything will be warped."

"So, you can't make a prediction."

"Oh, I could, I could, but I don't want to."

"_Why?_"

"It's a…secret."

"Very funny."

"I hope so. By the way, why are you so…worried about her?"

"She is no longer under the rules of her world, and as long as she is in Spira under our control, she is not affected by the rules there."

"_And what would happen if she forges a link to Spira?_"

"Through someone?"

"**It is of no consequence. She would only bring destruction to the chosen one**."

"So what is next?"

"**She is going to meet her fate**."

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Sakura awoke suddenly, sweating and gasping. Once again, she had dreamed that she was hearing powerful voices in an abyss, discussing of her fate. Near her, Tidus was roused by her movements. He finally woke up and searched the interior of the tent.

"Wakka?" He turned to the Japanese girl. "Hey, Sakura. Do you know where Wakka is?" He then remarked her pale skin and heaving chest. "Huh? Are you alright, Sakura?"

Sakura managed to calm her breathing. "Yes, I'm fine Tidus…It was just a nightmare."

He nodded darkly. "I suppose it's normal after what happened to us." The blitzball player got up and walked outside. "I wonder where the big guy is?" He headed to the temple since it was the only location where the captain of the Aurochs could hide.

Sakura blinked at the comportment of her friend and decided to follow him. His big mouth needed a chaperone.

In front of a set of stairs in the back of the temple, Tidus and Sakura found Wakka speaking to a priest. Never being the patient one, Tidus asked directly Wakka. "What happened?"

"The summoner hasn't returned from her trial."

"Huh?"

"Well, officially, this person isn't a full summoner yet."

Sakura was perplexed. "We do not fully understand the situation, captain Wakka."

"There's a room in the back called the Cloister of Trials, and the apprentice summoner is praying in there. If the prayer passes, then the petitioner will become an official full-fledged summoner…" He turned to Tidus. "Do you remember?"

"I understand that someone hasn't come back out from the trial."

Wakka sighed. "It has already been one full day."

Tidus didn't like that. "Is there any danger inside?"

Wakka nodded. "Sometimes, yes."

"Why don't you go in and help?"

Wakka shook his head. "There's already guardians in there. Besides, it's forbidden."

Before Wakka could respond, Tidus ran up the stairs before turning around. "Hey, but what if something happens? What if the summoner dies?"

"The precepts must be obeyed!"

The priest nearby spoke, alarmed. "You must not break the rules!"

"Like I care!" And Tidus turned and ran through the doorway, making everyone else in the temple gasping to him for the second time that day.

Sakura slapped her face in her hand and shook her head. It was typical of the hot-headed teen. She was rather proud of him to care for a stranger at the drop of a hat, but the troubles he created in his wake…

"I'm going after him."

Wakka and the priest whirled to her. "What? Do ya really think you have to break the precepts also?"

"In this case, captain Wakka, it's about choosing between a small offence and a graver offence to Yevon. " She turned to the priest. "His mind is messed by Sin's toxin. He needs someone to prevent him to do other follies. It would be better for an insignificant person to break the rule than a full-fledged priest."

The priest winced. The girl was right and the rule has already been broken. If he entered the room, the fault would be his, but if a normal person entered… Yes, it would be a fault, but one that could be more easily forgiven. Besides, he didn't think that Wakka would be able to restrain the youth. "Alright, young girl. Go inside and I will pray Yevon to forgive you. Praise be to Yevon."

"Praise be to Yevon." Sakura turned around and entered the doorway.

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When the schoolgirl found the blond blitzball player, he was already trying to decipher the puzzles of the cloister. "Need a hand?"

"You came?"

Sakura smirked. "I'm supposed to prevent you to break any other rules."

Tidus smirked in return. "Well then. Prevent me by helping me to resolve this. It looks simple. You just have to touch some symbols, find some spheres and put them in the right place."

The two teenagers rapidly went through the various puzzles. Tidus was right, it was simple. As they put the 'Besaid Sphere' in the pedestal of the final room, Sakura felt the dreaded sharp pain along her major nerves trees. "Oh no! Not again!"

"What? What is it?"

"Stand back! I'm being controlled again!"

Worried, Tidus followed Sakura as she went back to the beginning of the cloister and get the 'Destruction Sphere' and placed it where they got the 'Besaid Sphere'. The wall crumbled under the effect of the 'Destruction Sphere' revealing a chest. The controlling entity released Sakura and she fell on her knees, more shaken by the experience than she wanted to admit.

"Sakura!" Tidus ran to his friend and held her.

"I'm OK, 'It' released me."

"Well, let's see what 'It' wanted to show us." Tidus opened the chest and extract… "…A staff?"

Sakura blinked as she examined the elaborated rod that Tidus put in her hands. "This is not really something I can use. It's probably for someone else."

"Huh…? Who?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps this summoner we have yet to see."

They went back and pushed the pedestal to the middle of the final room. The pedestal began to sink into the floor and Wakka entered. "Hey! How did you become so hot-headed? And you." He pointed to Sakura. "You were supposed to prevent him from breaking other rules." He sighed. "All right. It is off-limits here except to summoners, apprentice summoners, and guardians. It's the rule, so remember it well."

Tidus looked to the captain of the Aurochs. "So what about you?"

Wakka smiled. "Me? I'm a guardian."

Sakura considered the orange-haired man. "What is a guardian, captain Wakka?" To her surprise in a world that forbade any technology, the floor began to sink under their feet like an elevator.

As they descended, Wakka explained what a guardian is. "The summoners leave on journeys to offer prayers at temples around Spira. The guardians are their protectors. Now, the guardians with the apprentice back there… One will be mad soon, and who knows what the other's thinking. Well, since you come all the way here, you should come with me? Ah, let's go."

The group proceeded to walk to the back room. In there, they saw the two guardians. One was a woman sitting at the bottom of the stairs. She was tall with reddish eyes and black hair. Sakura remarked that her hair was done in a bun with hairpins like in her country. Her dress, however, was completely different than what she knew. It was a long, black, strapless dress, than seemed to be made of belts from the waist down on the right side. The other guardian made her gasp. He was a blue furred feline-like man with a shattered horn on his forehead. He was standing with his arms crossed and sported an impressive polearm.

The woman turned to Wakka with a slight expression of anger on her face. "What are you doing here? Didn't think we'd be able to handle it?"

Wakka cringed for a moment under her slight glare and placed his hand on the back of his head sheepishly. "No, it's uh...it's just..." He turned to Tidus. "See, I told you she gets mad easy."

Tidus didn't care about the woman's anger and walked closer to her. "Is the summoner okay?"

The woman's face went from anger back to apathy, before momentarily switching to confusion. "Who are you? And for that matter, who is she?" She pointed to Sakura who was standing calmly in the back.

Suddenly, the opening of the door at the top of the stairs across the room caught the attention of everyone. A beautiful young girl walked out. The eyes of Sakura widened as she remarked the Asian features on her face. Se had shoulder-length brown hair and mismatched eyes: The right was green and the left blue. She was clad in a blue calf-length pleated skirt with white decorations, a white shirt looping around her neck, a yellow obi-style belt, kimono-style white sleeves with pink trim and dark-blue calf-length laced boots.

The girl stood still for a moment, then fell over. The blue tiger-looking guardian quickly rushed over to hold her gently in his arms. She regained her balance and fixed her hair before standing up straight and speaking. "I've done it. I have become a summoner!"

Sakura slowly approached and bowed to the exhausted girl. "Felicitation. Please accept this humble gift to celebrate your success." She presented the rod she was forced to find before.

The female summoner blinked and reverently examined the more elaborated rod than her own. "A 'Rod of Wisdom'." She whispered and smiled to the Japanese girl. "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

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The summoner, her guardians, and the two displaced teenagers all came out from the Cloister of Trials. Tidus looked sideway to the girl. '_That surprised me. I had thought that the summoner was an old man_.' Everyone proceeded to exit the temple and gathered around a circular platform in the middle of the village.

Wakka wrestled Tidus down to the area.

"Hey!? Eh!? What!?"

Wakka beamed to the young man. "Have a good look."

Tidus shook off Wakka and approached Sakura who was in the first rank of spectators. "I can see for myself."

Wakka walked closer to the summoner. "Ready?"

She nodded before gripping her staff with one hand. "Okay."

The summoner did a dance and 4 beams of light rose up from a circle formation around her and spiralled around each other in to the sky. As the 4 beams met, a bright flash of light appeared and something came diving down. It was a giant, multicoloured bird creature, at least 5 times as large as the summoner herself. It swept down and allowed her to stroke its neck. Cheers erupted from the crowd, signalling the success of the first summon of the young girl.

Tidus and Sakura were very impressed by the first Aeon that they have seen. Sakura shook her head. After seeing Sin, she didn't think that anything could impress her, and yet…

Everyone was in a joyous spirit and congratulated the summoner. A party was being organized on the spot. Tidus smiled as he perceived the joy of the crowd. '_So, the first time I spoke to her was after it became dark. I did not understand it, but that was a special night. For everyone…for me…_'

At an outdoor part in the centre of the village, Wakka was introducing Tidus to his team. "Let me introduce you to everyone on the team." He pushed the blond boy to the rest of the team. "He wanted to enter the great tournament this year no matter what and decided to join our team. Because his memory is a little foggy, he may say some weird stuff, but don't worry about it. Hey, introduce yourself."

Tidus regained his balance and wondered about what to say. "Nice to meet you, guys." Everybody nodded. "What is our objective at the great tournament?"

All the team members replied. "To do our best!"

Wakka shook his head. "Nope, our objective has changed!" He raised his right hand in a fist. "The objective is victory! We will bring the Crystal Cup back to this island! We'll win all our matches! We'll defeat all the other teams! We can win! It's that easy, ya!"

The Aurochs looked a little unsure of this. "…Victory?" And then the words of doubt became rallying calls. "Victory! Victory! Victory, victory, victory!"

Meanwhile, Sakura was talking with the new female summoner.

"I thank you again for your gift."

"It was nothing. After all I did break a rule. Compensation seemed in order."

The young girl smiled to the blushing Japanese girl. "I'm Yuna. What is your name?"

The eyes of the schoolgirl widened and she slapped her hand on her mouth. "I can't believe I have forgotten to present myself. I must ask for your forgiveness, Lady Yuna. My name is Sakura."

"Well, since we are doing the presentations… Look here, the tall woman is Lulu…" She smirked a little. "…and my shadow behind me is the proud Ronso called Kimahri." She giggled to the Japanese girl. "Tell me. Is it true that your friend found himself too near Sin, but survived like you."

Sakura turned to the older girl and looked seriously in her mismatched eyes, searching for something. "Yes, we survived Sin. As for his memory affected by Sin's toxin, I left you the judge of that."

Two old women and a little girl approached Sakura. "Lady Yuna, I don't think it is appropriate to speak to this young fool."

Sakura blinked to the woman. "But I asked permission to the priest before I helped my friend."

"You should have left him. I can't believe he said that he didn't care about the precepts of Yevon."

Sakura gazed calmly into the reproving eyes. "I should have turned my back to a friend because he didn't really know what he was speaking about but the words of his own heart?"

The two women looked more constipated than before. Sakura saw something behind them and smirked. "Well, you are going to have the occasion to speak to him about it. He's coming here."

Tidus was walking toward the summoner and her company. The first old woman whirled to him. "Stay back, heathen!"

The other old woman continued the verbal attack. "You cannot come near the summoner!"

The little girl followed the example. "You're a bad man!"

The summoner got up and got ready to face Tidus to the alarm of the group of bigots. "Lady Yuna, you must not!"

Yuna smiled to the group of women. "But, if we speak of the cause, it was my fault." She turned and quickly walked to Tidus to introduce herself under the amused gaze of Sakura. "I'm Yuna. Thank you for before."

Tidus placed a hand behind his head, slightly blushing. "Ah, that I went to help? But, didn't that turn out badly? I did something uncalled for." He scratched the back of his head.

"That's okay. It was because I was inexperienced."

After a short uncomfortable pause, Tidus spoke again. In the background Sakura suppressed her laughter with her two hands as she saw the perfect example of love at first sight. "Hey, I saw the Aeon. It was incredible."

"Really? He is called Valefor. Do you think I can become a great summoner?"

Tidus nodded his head. The little girl then approached and tried to tell Yuna something. "Lady Yuna, let's talk some more…" The little girl walked away, waiting for Yuna to follow.

Yuna turned to the two teenagers. "Well, I'll see you two tomorrow."

Tidus looked confused. "Tomorrow?"

Yuna nodded. "Tomorrow, we will probably depart on the same ship since you are with the Aurochs for the tournament."

"Ah, yes. You are right."

"Then, we can talk more."

"Um."

Sakura waved to the young summoner. "Good night, Lady Yuna."

Yuna walked away but turned around. "Then I can ask you about Zanarkand."

Sakura was perplexed. How did Yuna learned about it. She certainly didn't speak about Zanarkand, but then Yuna had talked to her guardians during the party. It was probably then that she heard about the origin of Tidus.

Wakka came and nudged on Tidus' back. "Isn't she cute?"

"Yeah!"

"Don't get no ideas."

Tidus held his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. "No promises there, big guy. Hey, but what if she, like, comes on to me?"

Wakka frowned slightly, before smiling again. "That's not going to happen." He turned to look at his two charges. "If you two get tired, let me know. I had some beds made up for you."

Sakura realized that she was dead tired. She nodded at Wakka then bade good night to Tidus and forced herself to the lodge of the Crusaders. She was so tired that the fact to sleep near men didn't faze her. She didn't even hear Tidus taking the bed next to her.

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Tidus dreamed. He sat at the dock. Tidus got up and walked toward Yuna who is looking out to the sea.

Tidus spoke to the young girl. "The ship isn't coming."

"If it doesn't come quickly, then we'll be discovered by everyone."

Tidus stood near Yuna. "Is it okay…really?"

"Yes. Take me…to Zanarkand."

Rikku appeared and ran toward Tidus. "Hey! You said that you would travel with ME!"

Tidus pretended to be jogging, surprised by the apparition of the young Al Bhed. "Ah!? Aah! Well…"

Rikku continued. "I've heard that you've come to like Yuna."

Yuna turned to Tidus. "Is that so…"

Rikku smirked. "Yep! So, you'll go with me!"

Jecht suddenly appeared. "What are you doing? Going on a journey with girls even if you're just a kid? You're 1000 years too young!" Suddenly Tidus was just in the form of him as a kid. "Ooh, I wonder if it has started yet...? You will cry. You will cry soon. You will definitely cry soon. Look, you're crying!"

Tidus replied angrily. "I really hate you."

Jecht turned his ear to Tidus. "I can't hear you."

A new and powerful voice is heard. "But me, I can hear you."

Jecht turned to face Sakura. A strange Sakura, eyes closed, draped into a black cloak clasped by a ruby. The cloak was so dark that it seemed to absorb the light. "Why are you doing this?"

Jecht frowned at the intruder. "This doesn't concern you."

Sakura burst into laughter. She opened her eyes, revealing two dark holes of black light. "Poor little Dream, I'm not talking of what you are trying to do with your spawn. I am speaking of your actions now."

Jecht looked angrily to the transformed Japanese. "I know what I'm doing."

She smirked. "Very well. As you wish." She closed again her eyes. "Know then, that I also know what I am doing." Ice crept into her voice. "And I will do it." She suddenly disappeared as if she had been smoke in the wind. The figures in the dream seemed to resume their actions before the strange apparition.

Yuna advised Tidus. "It's no good if you won't say it with a much louder voice."

The young Tidus screamed. "I hate you!"

Jecht seemed to react. "Huh?"

Rikku turned to Tidus. "Hey, give it your best shot!"

Yuna did the same. "Yeah, try your best!"

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Tidus woke up, screaming. "I hate you!" He suddenly realised that he was still in his bed in the lodge of the Crusaders and tried to regain his calm after his dream. He frowned and turned to look at the young girl sleeping near him. She had not awaken at his scream and seemed to sleep peacefully. As he was about to resume his sleep he heard voices outside. It was Lulu talking. "He is already dead!"

Tidus got up from bed to check out what was going on.

Lulu continued to speak. "I can swear that kid looks just like Chappu. I was surprised when I saw him the first time. However, while he can look like him, he is not a replacement." She hissed at Wakka. "You shouldn't have brought him here in the first place!"

"Yea, but...he… No, they needed our help!"

"Excuses again?"

"Yeah, but..."

"That's it. No more. Enough, Wakka!" Wakka cringed, before she walked away, leaving Wakka alone. Wakka was clearly frustrated as he held his head.

Wakka found Tidus standing next to the entrance when he stepped back in. The blond young man waved to the still sleeping young girl and talked softly to the captain of the Aurochs. "That was scary. But, who's Chappu?"

Wakka sighed. "My little brother. He…looks just like you."

"Is he dead?" The two men sat down on opposing beds.

"He joined the Crusaders and was killed…while fighting Sin last year. It was the day of the great tournament when I heard the news."

"Ah, so..."

"I decided to become a guardian and fight Sin, ya."

"Seeking revenge?"

"That's what I planned. Don't laugh now. Seeking my little brother's revenge and blitzball are both very important to me. Well, after the next great tournament, I'm going to be a guardian full-time. It looks like I'm using you for that purpose… Sorry."

"Don't worry. I depend on you. Sakura depend on you. Meeting you is really helping us. Thanks a lot, Wakka…for everything." Tidus offered his hand...

Unknown to the two men who were bonding on a shared pain, the Japanese girl was not sleeping. She had been awaken by the outburst of Tidus and had quietly listened on the two conversations.

She was worried. No, she was scarred. The words in the scream of Tidus were the same that she heard in the strange vision she thought she had dreamed. Could it be possible that the mysterious entity which controlled her sometimes could do it in a dream?

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After a good night's rest, Tidus finally exited the Crusaders' lodge and joined Sakura, Wakka and Lulu. The schoolgirl smiled. Tidus was definitively not a morning person. She had the time to buy herself a little breakfast at the shop and read an interesting book found in the lodge. Luzzu had graciously given it to her since the Crusaders have no use of a book about the Al Bhed tongue. It was during that time that she discovered that her mysterious gift of the Spiran tongue included the ability to read the strangely deformed Romanji letters.

Wakka turned to greet Tidus. "Hey, sleepyhead. I want to give you something." The captain of the Aurochs drew out from behind his back what appeared to be a sword made out of fine blue crystal that sparkled in the sun. Lulu seemed to be in a small bit of shock over this fact.

"Wow… Are you sure you want to give it to me?"

"Yeah, try using it."

As Tidus examined and tried out his new sword, Lulu turned to Wakka. "But you gave the 'Brotherhood' to Chappu."

"Well, he never used it, not even once."

Lulu sighed and turned his cool gaze to the Japanese girl. "And her?"

Wakka suddenly realised that he didn't thought about it. Sakura waved away the worries of the two guardians. "Don't worry. I am armed and the old priest of the temple gave me this Hairpin to protect me."

Wakka sighed in relief. He dodged the wrath of Lulu on that. He frowned as he searched someone. "Yuna is late."

Tidus remembered the conversation of the last night. "Aren't we going on the same ship as Yuna? Wouldn't it be okay for us to go on ahead?"

Wakka shook his head. "Yuna came to this village 10 years ago. It was the year that Braska's Calm started."

"The Calm?"

Tidus was confused once again, but Wakka just continued, ignoring Tidus' query for the moment. "Since then, Yuna has been like a little sister to me and Lulu. Knowing that she had the Talent, becoming an apprentice summoner… And today, we're travelling with her as a full summoner."

Lulu finished. "From the very beginning, we wanted to travel with her."

Sakura remarked a small silhouette walking in their direction. "Ah! Here she comes…What the…?"

They saw Yuna coming out of the temple with a huge luggage. Lulu turned to the young summoner. "Such a big luggage can only be troublesome."

Yuna smiled a little as she struggled with the heavy luggage. "Ah, there're not really my things. They're gifts for the temples we're going to visit."

Wakka shook his head. "This isn't supposed to be a vacation, Yuna."

"I guess… I guess you're right." Yuna walked toward them after leaving her luggage near the tent of Wakka.

Wakka beamed to the group as they prepared to depart. "So, we're leaving, ya!"

Yuna turned around to say goodbye to the temple and the place she called Home for a long time. Sensing her mood, Sakura slipped her hand in the hand of the older girl and smiled sadly as homesickness darkened her heart. After a moment, Yuna let go and smiled gratefully to the schoolgirl. The genuine smile brought some light in the heavy heart of the displaced girl.

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As they walked along the path leading back to the dock, Sakura looked around, admiring the lush scenery, the clear blue water and the fierce looking dog-like fiends heading for them...

"What the…! Look out! Fiends!"

Wakka whirled around and recognized 3 fiends of the Dingo type running right to them. In a burst of dark-blue energy, the Demon Sword materialized in the left hand of the Japanese girl. The rest of the group drew their weapons. Sakura took a double-take as she remarked some of the strangest weapons she ever saw. If Tidus and Yuna had almost normal weapons, here the 'Brotherhood' sword and the 'Rod of Wisdom', Lulu and Wakka had definitely weird weapons. Lulu was holding a…doll of all things and Wakka was readying a…blitzball.

Yuna and Lulu stood back, letting the 3 melee fighters handling the Dingos. "With five of us, this is no problem." Tidus ran up eagerly to the first and swung his sword in a cleaving downward arc. The creature revealed itself to be agile as it dodged and bit Tidus in the arm. The blond young man swore since it was his weapon's arm. The fiend jumped back to dodge the counter-attack and received a crushed skull courtesy to the blitzball thrown by Wakka.

"Aid us!" Yuna waved her staff, and a wave of white and blue sparkles overtook Tidus, healing up the bite he had just received.

The other two fiends headed straight for Sakura who felt grateful that the familiar pain of being controlled returned. She waited for the charge of the Dingos and ducked under them. One Dingo burst into pyreflies as the girl had gutted it as they passed above her. The second one whirled back and forced her to give ground with a ferocious charge aimed to her legs. It whined and dissolved into pyreflies when it found itself impaled by the new sword of Tidus. "Alright!"

Like before, the pyreflies were absorbed by the polychromatic gems of the schoolgirl: Something that provoked a gasp from Yuna and a raised eyebrow from Lulu. The Dingos left behind them coloured spheres for the grid and Gils, the money of Spira.

They continued down the path, but suddenly three small bird-like fiends dove down from the heavens, screeching.

Wakka rapidly identified the threat. "Condors! Leave them to me and Lu!" He pulled his blitzball out again, as Lulu got ready to cast a spell. "Here we go!"

"Need a good jolt?" Lulu gestured at the first Condor and a bolt of electrical magic came down on it, frying it instantly. Wakka simply slammed his blitzball into the chest of the second Condor, killing it instantly. Unfortunately, this leaved the third and final Condor diving at the rest of the group. Sakura suddenly felt something clicked inside of her. It was something completely different than before, something that belonged only to her.

A well of power opened up in the core of her soul and a hot but not damaging sensation rushed to her heart. Strange symbols formed inside her mind and she unconsciously gestured in the direction of the Condor. "Fireball!" A blast of fire erupted from her outstretched hands and reduced the diving fiends into a cloud of pyreflies.

Sakura, awed, examined her hands. "Wow… I did that myself?"

Lulu approached the dazed girl. "Well, it seems that you have some potential in the Black Magic." She frowned a little. "What do you mean by 'you do it yourself'."

The Japanese girl dreaded this moment. She explained then that since the discovery on her person of those strange jewelleries, she could manifest a sword that seemed to take control of her body since she didn't now how to fight with it.

Wakka blinked to the explanation. "Ya mean it's like an Aeon? The sword fights in your place? Only, ya know, by using your body, ya?"

Sakura scratched her head. "Well… You can say that. At least it permitted me to protect myself and those around me for now."

Tidus eagerly talked about the fighting prowess of his comrade-in-pain. "And you should see when she released those awesome elemental blades of her. It's so cool and powerful."

Yuna smiled at the blushing young girl. "That good. She can protect herself and others. What could you ask for more?"

They arrive at the top the hill overlooking the village. Lulu and Yuna walked over to the edge, Yuna felt a bit reluctant to leave her home of ten years. Lulu seemed to notice this, and put her hand on Yuna's shoulder, trying to calm her uneasiness. "Take your time."

Yuna nodded and gave one last look at her home. She turned and walked back down the incline, towards the rest of the group. Tidus, however, seemed to be getting slightly impatient. "Let's go quickly!"

Wakka shook his head. "We'll wait just a bit."

"Huh?"

Yuna walked between Wakka and Tidus. The captain of the Aurochs spoke softly to her. "Have you…had enough time?"

"Yes." She walked off, trying to master her emotions. Lulu nodded to Wakka as she walked past the two, and Wakka returned the nod.

Tidus was confused. "Wha…what is it?"

Sakura sighed. Tidus was not really on top in regard to the emotional stuff. She approached the blond young man and whispered to him. "Tidus, Yuna is leaving for the first time her home of ten years for a pilgrimage. She is not feeling happy about it because any pilgrimage takes time. She will be absent for a long period of time. Do you understand now?"

"Ha. Okay."

They arrived at the ruin structure on the top of the hill. The two guardians and the young summoner bowed down and began to pray. Sakura decided to do the same out of respect and prayed to her ancestors to protect her during her ordeal. Tidus walked over, and asked what they were doing.

Wakka paused for a moment to explain. "Like I said yesterday, it's an ancient custom. People leaving the island pray here for a safe trip. Chappu didn't pray that day. Said he'd miss his boat."

Tidus seemed to understand, and after a moment of hesitation, joined the group in prayer.

"That should do it!" Wakka said, standing up after a minute.

He turned away and began to walk down the trail towards the dock, quickly followed by Yuna and Lulu. Tidus and Sakura rushed after them, not wanting to be left behind.

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As they neared a group of old ruins, a low growl caught the attention of the Japanese girl. She looked up just in time to see Kimahri leaped down from a high pillar, right in front of Tidus and her. A ferocious roar echoed in the ruins. Startled, Tidus took up a defensive stance and drew his sword. Sakura was bewildered by the comportment of the blue-furred guardian.

Kimahri took the initiative and whipped the dull end of his polearm around in an arc. Tidus ducked under the blow but Sakura was caught flat-footed on the side of her head and fell on the ground, dazed. Furious, Tidus exchanged blows with the Ronso who proved to be very adept with his polearm. Nonetheless, the blitzball player of Zanarkand held against the powerful fighter. Kimahri suddenly jumped on his polearm like a pogo stick, and bound into the air. He landed, sending Tidus flying a few feet with the shockwave of the impact. The shock of the attack seemed to revive the fallen schoolgirl.

"SOULS! BE MY STRENGTH!"

The powerful and deeper than normal voice of the Japanese girl seemed to stop everybody for a few second. A whirlwind of dark-blue energy formed around her left manacle which dissolved into pixels. The formidable silhouette of a long sword materialized.

"Demon Sword! Ready!"

"Uh oh. She's being controlled again." Tidus was worried. He didn't want Kimahri to be obliterated. He just wanted to beat him.

"You want to test me, Ronso! Challenge accepted!" The possessed teen pointed her right hand to the feline guardian. "I have chosen the element to deal with the likes of you!" Her right hand cupped around a green ball of energy. "Eternal anchor that granted everlasting life!" She inserted the ball into the gem on the guard of the Demon Sword. The blade acquired a green sheen.

Feeling a powerful attack, Kimahri rushed the young girl, hoping to disrupt her preparation. Too late, the swordswoman held up her blade. "Grant the sturdiness of the ground. STONE BLADE!"

The blade seemed to cut through the charging Ronso who stopped instantly. Wakka jumped in at this, sensing the need to end the fight before Kimahri was killed by the dangerously looking teen. "That's enough!"

Unfortunately, it was a little too late. The group remarked with horror that Kimahri had been…petrified.

Sakura turned to Wakka and spoke with the same altered voice. "Do not worry, guardian Wakka. It is only temporary since he only wanted to test us." Something seemed to leave the eyes of the Japanese girl and she paled as she regained the control of herself. "Oh my god… What I have done?"

To the immense relief of everyone, the Ronso regained his mobility after a few moments. He didn't seem to harbour any resentment to either of the two teenagers. Tidus was nonetheless feeling a little out. "What's with that guy?"

Lulu answered the blond young man. "Kimahri Ronso, of the Ronso tribe. He's learned the fiends' way of fighting."

"That's not what I meant!"

"He's another of Yuna's guardians." Wakka replied, causing Tidus to go 'Huh?' again.

Sakura softly spoke, head bowed, catching the attention of everyone. "I think he wanted to test us in the heat of a fight, because many things are shown during the crucible of the battle."

Yuna laughed and walked up to the two teenagers. "Perhaps… But don't be so down. If it was a test, you both passed it with flying colours. Sometimes we don't understand him much either. Kimahri doesn't talk much anyway. But, he has protected me since I was a child!"

"Oh…" Tidus nodded, and continues to walk down to the dock.

The group finally passed the beach and approached the boat. It has a strange name: The 'SS Liki'. It was a rather normal ship, about the size of an ocean fishing boat, but without all the nets and such. All the villagers were surrounding the dock to say goodbye to Yuna. Many were offering gifts to the group: Some money, some items and a protective ring for the young summoner. Walking onto the deck, Yuna looked around to the pier, where many people were gathered to see her off. Many of them were smiling and waving, and others were crying. Yuna faced them, and did the prayer gesture several times, as the boat began to leave the dock.

As the boat finally pulled away from the pier, Yuna said one word, before turning to walk inside the cabin. "Goodbye."

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Notes: I have finally finished this long chapter. Phew…

This is an experiment. I want to concentrate on only one story until my muse is finally bored then switch to another story. Well, we'll see.

The reference of the 'lost islands' by Wakka came from the fact that the Al Bhed tribe was on an island before it was destroyed by Sin. We can easily imagine a multitude of small islands inhabited but undiscovered by the Yevonites of Spira. Especially with the ban on technology.

Here's a little bonus. The stats of Sakura as if she has been integrated in the game 'Final Fantasy X'.

Name: Sakura.

Sakura is an average and polite Japanese schoolgirl from Earth. She has been kidnapped by four mysterious entities of great power. She desperately wants to go home. In battle, she seemed possessed by her weapon and is very deadly.

Age: 16.

Height: 160 cm.

Location: Japan/Spira.

Overdrive: Elemental blade.

Weapon: Demon Sword.

Armour: Hairpin.

Japanese voice: Megumi Hayashibara.

English voice: Amanda Winn Lee.

Starting stats:

HP: 400. MP: 20. Str: 5. Def: 8. M Def: 8. Mag: 10. Agl: 10. Eva: 10. Acc: 5. Luck: 17.

Magic, skills and special abilities accessible on her sphere grid:

Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Water, Cure, Esuna, Shell, Protect, Armour Break, Mental Break, Luck, Sentinel, Quick Pockets and Full Break.

Battle quotes: During a battle, the character uses specific quotes for each action. Here are those for Sakura.

At the start of a battle:

- "Oh, no! Not again!"

"Why me? Someone tell me!"

"You are really annoying me."

"Someone tell me what to do? Quick!"/ Lulu: "Are you serious?"

When she enters a battle by switching with another character:

"You really need me?"

"You hurt my friends!"

"I can feel 'Its' hunger."

"Oh, mother."

When she is revived:

"I'm still alive?"

Yuna: "How do you feel?"/ "How do you think?"

"I want to go home."

Lulu: "So, back with us?"/ "Sorry, Sempaï."

When she win a battle by inflicting the killing blow:

"We win? Incredible!"

"Phew…"

Tidus: "Controlled again?"/ "What do you think?"

"I'm getting the hang of it."

At the end of a battle: "Finally…"

Sakura casts Cure: "Force of life!"

Sakura casts Esuna: "Be gone! Taint!"

Sakura casts Shell: "Please, guard our souls."

Sakura casts Protect: "Please, guard our bodies."

Sakura casts Thunder: "Feel my wrath!"

Sakura casts Fire: "Fireball!"

Sakura casts Water: "Mizuno Ryu!"

Sakura casts Blizzard: "Ice daggers!"

Sakura uses Armour Break: "Armour Crusher!"

Sakura uses Mental Break: "Your will is weak!"

Sakura uses Sentinel: "You will not touch my friend!"

Sakura uses Luck: "Ancestors, protect us!"

Sakura uses Full break: "Final Slash!"

Sakura uses Quick Pockets: "Nothing in the hands, nothing in the sleeves."

Next: The travel to Kilica. Sakura will be confronted to an element of Spira that should be impossible to her eyes. And, finally, the Demon Gun is unleashed.

Read and review please.


	7. The Demon Gun! Are you also a Summoner?

**The Puppet of Entropy.**

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sakura Hayakawa.

**Chap 6: The Demon Gun! Are you also a summoner?**

Aboard the SS Liki, Tidus decided to have a little fun and began to play pranks on people and do some stunts to others. Sakura shook her head as she witnessed him 'borrowing without authorization' a pair of binoculars from a female passenger. The girl in question seemed nonplussed of his explications about it was 'just to have a look around, honest'.

She smirked when she saw him later with a nice red mark in the form of a hand on the cheek. Seeing the blond blitzball player going to Wakka and Lulu, she decided to explore the boat and gathered a little information by herself.

Tidus approached Wakka after a little sight-seeing, eager to learn more about the goal of this cruise.

Wakka smiled when he saw the last member of the Aurochs walking to him. "Oh ya, I haven't explained something to you. We're going to an island called Kilika, ya? There, we'll change boat and head for Luca. And, before that, I have to guard Yuna there because she will be praying at the island's temple, ya. Because, the Besaid Aurochs will be offering prayers for victory in the tournament at the temple, you should come too."

Lulu remained sceptical about the potential of this plan. "Half-cooked odd plan."

Wakka returned angrily. "It's not a useless plan!" Then turned, a little worried to Tidus. "Don't you think?"

Tidus waved away the question, not wanting to be on the bad side of Lulu. "Don't look at me for the answer."

Lulu looked closely to the young man so like Chappu. "I wonder who you really are, and where did you come from…" She hesitated then. "In fact, I wonder where did Sakura come from and what is her story with this strange sword of her…"

Dreading to be draw into that kind of discussion, Tidus decided to see how Yuna was faring and pulled Wakka with him.

Before Lulu attempted to stop the blond boy and asked him others questions, a member of the crew approached her. "Excuse me, miss, could you come with me, something happened to a member of your group…"

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The interior of the ship was very interesting to the Japanese girl. She just loved to explore like this. With a bitter smile, she remembered her 'expeditions' with her friends in some of the 'out of the way' portions of her city.

It was then that she met a colourful character: The illustrious O'aka, thirteenth of the name. He was a travelling merchant with a way to speak, she found very amusing. He was also in search of some sponsors to finance his stores. Perusing his few samples, Sakura quickly discovered that he was something to invest in at long term. She didn't know how long she would remain in Spira, but some articles that he proposed where simply too good to let them escape.

Fortunately, money was something that she had now. She smiled when she saw the eyes of the merchant alighted when she gave him 1100 Gils. She identified her group as the one with the Summoner Yuna of Besaid. He promptly assured her that her party will be always well received in any of his shops and gave her a green token to identify herself as a privileged client.

Sakura continued her exploration of the ship. It was amazing what one could find if he took his time. She managed to find a vial of Remedy under a bunch of debris and an abandoned case proved to be a treasure chest of no less than twenty Potions.

When she entered the engine room, she quickly localized another of the pamphlet that helped someone to understand the Al Bhed language under a dusty chest. In fact, by comparing it with her other pamphlet, she found that they were parts of a bigger book. She smiled. If she managed to recover most of the pamphlets, she could learn to speak Al Bhed. Mastering Languages was one of her rare advantages in school.

She stood up and brushed the dust from her skirt and suddenly froze. Too absorbed in her treasure hunt, she didn't remark, until now, how the Liki was powered, outside by its sails. There were rows of yellow birds corralled in the engine room and slaved to wheels that were linked to the propulsion of the boat.

Big yellow birds, very big yellow birds with a big beak and ostrich-like legs. Birds that were an icon of a popular video game in her world… A game she played…

"Cho…Cho…CHOCOBOS!!!"

She couldn't believe what her senses were telling her. It couldn't be the famous bird of the Final Fantasy series of games. Too much, it was too much. Her mind shut down under the shock. She crumbled on the floor under the curious and soon panicked gaze of some members of the crew. They promptly took her in a cabin and sent for another member of her group.

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"_BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_"

"You find this, funny?"

"_Oh, yes! Did you see her face when she saw those Chocobos? BWAHAHAHAHA!_"

"You're not laughing."

"I knew it would have happened."

"I am surrounded by idiots."

"**You are still concerned about her origin?**"

"Yes. She is mortal, but you sent her in a situation that could backfire to us."

"**I have taken account of the only possibility for her to turn against us. It will not happen.**"

"I feel still concerned… And you, instead of laughing and indulging in your desires, sent her back, now!"

"_Well, you heard our dear little cutter, Slave. Awaken._"

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It was the face of Lulu and her concerned reddish eyes that greeted her when she came back. "Are you all…"

The sorceress was cut off when Sakura engulfed her in a desperate embrace. Confused, she felt the green-eyed girl shaking with genuine fear. She was stammering near full panic. Lulu remembered some of the nightmares of a younger Yuna and gathered her in her arms, murmuring soothing nonsense.

After some times, the black-haired woman felt that the girl was better. She partially released her and looked into her eyes. "What happened?"

Sakura needed to speak to someone. Lulu was the only adult nearby that she felt she could understand her plea. "I…I saw the Cho…Chocobos in the engine room… But…it's impossible…" She whispered furiously. "You understand…it's impossible… They…they are just products of the imagination in my world… You understand? They cannot exist…they…" She was shocking on her own sobs.

The Japanese schoolgirl saw the confusion in the gaze of the sorceress and decided to tell her everything about her.

She spoke about a normal childhood in her own world: A world that had nothing to do with Spira. She spoke of the explosion that seemed to have sent her in this strange and unknown world. She cried as she explained her helplessness when those black manacles were revealed to be mark of slavery in disguise and how she had been controlled and forced to fight. She spoke about her terror as she was forced to rely on the strange dark grey sword and the controlling entity to protect her life and the life of Tidus.

She didn't speak about the blond young boy, as she felt that his story was his to reveal, and she didn't speak about her nightmares.

Lulu didn't think that she would have heard something like that. Oh, she had deduced that the story of the young girl was not very consistent and that she was from the Lost Islands didn't explain everything, especially those weird jewels of her. But, she didn't think that she will meet an authentic being of another world.

It was not that far-fetched for a Spiran living with Summoners capable to invoke Aeons, to imagine something like that. It was another thing to meet the genuine article.

Well, she was a sorceress and a guardian. She had a decision to take and she must respect the wishes of her Summoner. She gazed into the watery eyes of the young girl. "I want you to do some things for me, all right?"

Sakura sniffed and gingerly nodded.

Lulu maintained her grip on the shoulders of the black-haired girl. "I want you to always refer to me or Yuna if you had a problem in the future." The green eyes widened in confusion. "I want you to never hesitate to ask a question when you do not understand something, all right?"

The Japanese whispered. "Yes…"

"And finally, I want you to always count on us to protect or help you. Can you do that for me?"

Sakura bowed her head, tears falling from her closed eyes, and smiled. "Yes…"

Lulu smiled, a little. "Now, dry your tears and come with me on the deck. It would be a pity to spend the rest of the travel in a closed cabin."

The displaced young girl gingerly nodded, eyes reddened. "Yes… Thank you, Sempaï."

"Sempaï?"

A real smile bloomed on the lips of the Japanese. "It's a title of respect, in my world, for an older person in the same field of work."

Lulu thought about it. "Sempaï…" An eyebrow rose as she rolled the foreign word on the tongue. "Sempaï… Yes, I like that… I like the word." She turned to the young girl, thinking that she was less mature than Yuna. "Don't worry too much. Spira is vast and there are many wonders hidden in it. You have been sent to this world, so you can be sent back."

The two user of Black Magic exited the cabin and walked to the upper deck to see what happened to rest of the group.

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Tidus approached the crowd that has gathered around Yuna. Several other people were nearby, having a conversation amongst themselves.

"Word is that Summoner's got noble blood and that she's from a line of great Summoners."

"I heard she's Lord Braska's daughter!"

"Ya don't say?"

Tidus seemed confused for a minute. "Lord Braska's...daughter?" He thought about it for a minute then walked over to Wakka. "So, is Yuna's father famous or something?"

Wakka nodded and began to explain again, smiling. "She's the daughter of High Summoner Braska! You saw his statue at the temple. Lord Braska defeated Sin ten years ago. Yuna's the heir to a great legacy!"

Tidus hung his head for a moment, before speaking softly. "It's tough when your father's famous."

Wakka felt confused about the remark of the blond boy. "Huh?"

"Well, yes… Don't you think so?"

Wakka blinked "Huh?"

Tidus smiled to the captain of the Aurochs. "Never mind, Wakka. I'll just keep in mind that you are lacking in imagination." He quickly started to walk up to Yuna before the orange-haired man understood the tease. It was the right moment as the crowd around her now dissipated.

Stretching, Tidus looked out to sea, as Yuna anticipated the conversation. "The wind...it's nice."

Tidus agreed, and looked at Yuna for a moment, before the two of them just started laughing at the absurdity of the subject. Calming down after a moment, Yuna started to speak once again. "You're a blitzball player, aren't you? From Zanarkand, right?"

Tidus gave Yuna a slightly weird look, before nodding. "You hear that from Wakka? Wakka doesn't believe me at all."

Yuna took a few steps back and faced Tidus. "But I believe you."

The blond boy felt stunned by the words. "Huh?"

The young female Summoner waved her arms, excited. "I've heard in Zanarkand...there is a great stadium, all lit up, even at night! Great blitzball tournaments are held there, and the stands are always full!"

Tidus was shocked. "How do you know that?"

Smiling, Yuna explained calmly. "A man named Jecht told me. He was my father's guardian."

The eyes of the blitzball player widened. His surprised look turned into one of hate as he whirled around, muttering 'Jecht' under his breath. He turned back to Yuna when he felt calmer and began to speak again. "My father...his name is Jecht!"

Gasping in surprise, Yuna quickly did the prayer gesture. "Amazing! You know, our meeting like this must be the blessing of Yevon!"

"Sounds like him, but it can't be him."

"Why not?"

Tidus sighed and looked back to the ocean. "My old man, he died. Ten years ago, off the coast of Zanarkand."

Yuna turned away from Tidus, bowing her head slightly in reverence and spoke softly. "I'm sorry."

"He went out to sea for training one day in very early Spring...and never came back. And no one's seen him since then."

Yuna's head perked up for a moment, as she remembered something. "Why, that's the day that Jecht came to Spira."

"No way!"

She turned back to Tidus, who just stared. "It's true! I first met Jecht ten years and three months ago! I remember that was the day my father left. The date fits, doesn't it?"

Tidus was absolutely befuddled now. He fumbled for the right words. Finally, he calmed down enough again to speak. "Yeah, but how would he get here?"

Yuna smiled and pointed to Sakura who was entering the deck with Lulu. "You and Sakura are here, are you not?"

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard. The boat shook so hard that Yuna fell off her feet. Tidus tried to catch her but couldn't hold on her. Fortunately, Kimahri came to help and caught the young Summoner in time.

Lulu and Sakura managed, in extremis, to catch themselves on the railing. A massive grey fin shot out of the water, just in front of the ship to the horrors of the crew and the passengers.

"SIN!"

The cry seemed to echo on all the ship and freeze the blood of everybody. Regaining his footing, one of the crew members rushed behind what looked like a harpoon gun.

Wakka noticed that. "What do you think you're doing? Stick a harpoon in him and we'll all get dragged under!"

The crew member turned to the captain of the Aurochs. "Sin is going for Kilika! We gotta distract it!"

Another crew member manned the second harpoon gun and turned his desperate face to Yuna. "Our families are in Kilika! Forgive us, Lady Summoner!"

"Wait!" But it was too late as Wakka saw the harpoons launched on Sin. He looked around for something to grab onto. "Oh, boy..."

The wired harpoons hit the fin and the boat was quickly dragged along by Sin. Everyone aboard was rattled aboard the ship.

To the consternation of the Japanese girl, patches of the hide of Sin detached themselves from the impact point of the harpoons. They unfolded themselves into the same monsters she fought at Zanarkand. The creatures cut through the water with ludicrous speed and seemed eager to feed on the helpless passengers of the Liki.

Lulu swore as she saw the threat. "Sinscales! Everyone, focus on the enemy! We must protect Yuna!" She turned to the schoolgirl. "Stay with me and protect me as I use my magic!"

"Hai! Sempaï!" Under the urgency, Sakura had returned to her native tongue. Lulu didn't remark it as she was too focused on the monsters. She only assured herself that the young girl had summoned her dark grey sword and took position in front of her.

Wakka, kimahri and Tidus rushed to form the first line of defence. They quickly discovered that any Sinscales killed were replaced rapidly from the patches of hide that Sin loose in the sea.

Yuna ran to take a position near Lulu and smiled to Sakura as the schoolgirl modified her stance to protect her also. The young Summoner first assisted the frontline fighters with curative magic but it was not helping.

Lulu threw some fire magic and assessed the situation. "Burn! We need to concentrate on the fin. Yuna! Summon Valefor and direct him on the fin!"

Yuna invoked her first Aeon. "Please, fight with us!" The massive bird like Aeon came out of the sky and landed on the deck next to his Summoner. She ordered it to attack and it pushed off the ground into the sky. Its wings batted at the air as it opened its mouth and began to charge up an energy beam in front. The beam lanced out and carved a nice furrow in the fin. It also completely destroyed all the Sinscales around.

Sakura frowned. The harpoons were still deeply imbedded into the fin. As long as they were pulled along by Sin, they would be attacked. On the other side, Sin was focused on them and the island of Kilica was preserved. She gasped as a veritable rain of Sinscales submerged the deck of the ship. She found herself cutting in the massed creatures, protecting the two spell casters.

Wakka was beginning to freak. "We can't resist for long!"

Although he was still enthusiast, Tidus knew they couldn't last at this rhythm. Worse, the number of creatures meant that they couldn't protect all the passengers.

Yuna cringed as she witnessed the slaughter of a crew member. Valefor needed time to ready his most powerful attacks and the group simply didn't have that time.

Sakura was grimly considering that it was, perhaps, their hour. A light on her right wrist shocked her of her morbid state. "It's shining?!" The polychromatic gem on her right manacle was glowing.

She didn't have time to express her fear. The entity seized control of her body and voice.

"SOULS! BE MY STRENGTH!"

As the dark grey sword reformed into her left manacle, she raised her right wrist to her heart. A whirlwind of dark-blue energy burst around the manacle. The symbol of her enslavement dissolved into thousands of pixel-like blocks that rearranged themselves.

Yuna and Lulu looked, confounded, as the threatening form of a large dark-purple gun with three barrels formed on the forearm on the young girl. The weapon was secured on the right wrist. A black and red-veined heart beat on a side of the gun and three entries for bullets waited for their lethal ammunitions.

"Demon Gun! Ready!"

The possessed teen pointed her left hand to the fin and the Sinscales. "I have chosen the Soul-Colours to deal with the likes of you!" Her left hand cupped around a greyish sphere of energy that shaped itself into a bullet.

"The one who tears apart boulders with its teeth. Shark Grey!" The bullet inserted itself into one of the receptacle on the gun that closed by itself.

Another sphere of energy shaped itself into a bullet in the right hand of the Japanese girl. This time, it was a blue sphere. "The one who envelops all thirst. Water Blue!" The blue bullet quickly inserted itself into the second receptacle.

"And finally, the one who feeds on emptiness. Crusher White!" The white and final bullet was inserted into the weapon. The black heart began to beat rapidly and energy seemed to leak from the barrels of the gun as it was ominously humming.

Lulu and Yuna, sensible to magical energy, felt a tremendous amount of power gathering in the weapon. Sakura pointed the gun to the fin.

"Dive! Summoned creature! BISMARCK!"

She pulled the trigger. The gun fired in an explosion of smoke. Three beams of different colours burst from the cloud, spiralling around each other. They met above the surface of the water between the ship and the fin and it appeared in an explosion of light.

It was a creature that looked like a whale crossed with an antique cruiser. It dove in the water and a tornado of water erupted. The tower of liquid climbed to an incredible height, the creature swimming inside it. Then it disappeared suddenly and the water fell, creating a wave that submerged the fin and the boat. All the Sinscales seemed to dissolve into the water and the two lines of the harpoons snapped. Amazingly, the water was simply water for everybody else: No one was wounded by the magical wave.

Liberated from the annoying harpoons, Sin submerged. The wave generated by his movement proved to be harmful as Tidus found himself washed off the ship and knocked-out.

"Tidus!" The cry of Wakka galvanized Sakura and broke her from the numbness of having been, once again, controlled. With horror, she saw her friend unconscious in the water and the courageous captain of the aurochs attempting to save him.

"Chikusho!" She didn't know what she was thinking at that moment, but she pulled out of her pocket the chemical that Rikku had given to her before their underwater exploration. She quickly down a dose from the vial and rushed into the water, ignoring the cries of alarm of her comrades.

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Underwater, Wakka rapidly swim to Tidus who was surrounded by Sinscales. A nice Phoenix-Down revived him in time to avoid being slaughtered. The two blitzballers made short work of the creatures: They were no match for their skills.

"LOOK OUT! BEHIND YOU!"

The cry of the young girl came just in time for the two men to avoid the sneak attack of a larger creature. Wakka swore. "A Sinspawn Echuilles! Go away, dammit!" He quickly prepared one of his special attacks. "Dark attack! And stay down!" His blitzball hit the monster right on its eyes, generating a dark cloud that impaired the vision of the creature.

The two fighters proceeded to cut into ribbons the Sinspawn when a dark-purple beam of incredible intensity pierced through the creature which dissolved instantly into pyreflies. Confounded, they followed with their gaze the cloud of pyreflies that finished absorbed by the polychromatic gems of a Japanese teen-girl holding an impressive gun.

The Demon Gun returned to its manacle form on the right wrist of Sakura. She turned a grim and determined look to the two men. "Finally… Let's go back before the ship is too far away."

Tidus and Wakka exchanged a look and followed the young girl to the deck of the SS Liki. Exhausted and cold, Sakura let Yuna pulled her out of the water and enveloped her in a blanket. She smelled an alcoholic drink and opened her eyes. Lulu was looking at her, frowning severely and holding a cup. The schoolgirl bit his lower lip and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Sempaï." She whispered softly.

"You will be. Never do that again." The teenager nodded guiltily. "Now, drink this. You're not a blitzball player: You don't have the training and resistance of those two idiots."

Wakka was annoyed. "Hey, hey. Not my fault, ya? Couldn't let my ace in the hole being eaten, ya?"

Lulu shook her head before the antics of the two males. Reassured that her guardian and the young blond man were okay, Yuna approached the slumped displaced girl. She took her hands in hers and smiled softly. "Tell me. Are you a Summoner?"

Sakura blinked. Why was she surprised? The question was not so outrageous after her little demonstration with Bismarck. She blinked again. Like before for her elemental blades, she now 'knew' that Bismarck used water-elemental attacks. She shook her head. "No. Contrary to you, whoever is controlling me doesn't use my personal energy to summon those creatures." She thought about the impressions she gathered during her possession. "Also, I don't think that it was an Aeon. It was completely different from your power."

Yuna beamed to the younger girl. '_Now, that's strange. Why is she happy that I'm not a Summoner like her?_'

Tidus suddenly gasped as he saw something over the horizon. Everybody turned to the direction of the nearby island of Kilica. A massive tidal wave just appeared out of nowhere, and moved along for a minute, before disappearing. A massive tornado of debris and trees appeared over the position of the monstrous form of Sin. It was now out of the water and was skidding along the surface with what appeared to be some kind of hovering force, like anti-gravity. As it smashed into the docks it ripped up planks, trees, people, and other debris and flung them wildly around in a circle above it. After obliterated most of the port of Kilica, Sin simply returned to the water unconcerned by the devastated port town.

Shock had stolen the voice of Sakura. The Japanese girl came from people that had suffered from the first two atomic weapons and were constantly at the mercy of tidal waves on the coast. But, the teenager was young and a city girl. She only knew those tragic episodes of her history by her elders. Until now, she hadn't conceived the sheer horror of mass-destruction.

Yuna clutched her hands to her chest, resolve burning in her eyes. "I will defeat Sin... I must defeat Sin."

Tidus turned his head to the young female Summoner he was starting to love. '_I guess I had thought how nice it would have been… On that day, at that time, under that burning setting sun, witnessing the silent tears in the eyes of Sakura, I realized the enormity of everything. This is a world I don't know anything about, and it won't be that easy to go back. I finally understood that this is a reality that I cannot escape from._'

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Notes: Wow, already six chapters… Go, go, Baran!

The encounter with O'aka was simply a way to show that only a shopping mistress like a teenage girl could have understood the value of the merchant. He, he, I'm joking here. Frankly, I wonder how any character could have thought of the importance of long term finances. Oh well…

Yes, the popular video game is Final Fantasy VII. How do you think someone who played the game, find himself in the tenth opus (without any knowledge about it of course) and suddenly discovered the most famous birds of a fantasy world, would feel?

Lulu was perhaps a bit out of character. Well, I thought about the fact that the sorceress considered herself as the elder sister of Yuna. I think she could feel the same about a lost young girl.

The Demon Gun is finally unleashed on Spira. What will happen now? I will try to not use any summoned creature that Yuna can't imitate with her Aeons. (Ifrit, for example) Beside, since it's an overdrive move, Sakura can't use it every time. And no! The summoned creatures ARE NOT Aeons.

Why Sakura dove into the water since she doesn't love Tidus? Well, he is part of her anchors to sanity. Come on people, the girl is a teenager lost in another world. She should feel very protective of what anchored her to her current reality. Of course, the rest of the group is rapidly becoming anchors as well.

Next: The village of Kilica. Sakura witness how death is treated in this world. Also many battles with some wicked monsters. Another temple to visit. And, of course, the mysterious four entities continue to plague the displaced Japanese.

Thank you to Drachegirl14 and Dr. Thinker for their reviews.

Read, review and comment. Please.


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